TMNT: New Beginnings
by sherbetsprite
Summary: Life becomes more interesting, and more complicated, when someone new is thrown into the mix. Many mysteries surround the newbie... What secrets lie in their forgotten past? Are they mutant or alien? And, most importantly; are they friend or foe?
1. Chapter 1

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter One: First Sight**

It's a warm Spring night in New York. There's a cloudy sky, but a full-moon shines brightly regardless, and the rain begins to fall. There's little to no breeze, and, with all things considered when being in a city, things seems relatively quiet. But unfortunately, all is not as it seems...

A lone figure, hiding in the shadows, runs down a nearby street and ducks into an alley-way. Though hard to make-out clearly, the figure seems to be clutching something, holding it in both arms, close to their chest. They turn their head both ways, as well as looking up, before slacking against the wall, under a fire escape, and letting-out a relieved, and somewhat tired sounding, sigh. But their peace is short-lived, as another figure joins them, seemingly appearing from nowhere. This figure is larger, more muscular, and wearing a long dark jacket. They waste no time in making a grab with both arms for the smaller figure, but with no luck as the smaller of the two rolls out of the way and quickly jumps to their feet again before making their way up the fire escape.

The larger figure gives chase, stomping it's way up the stairs. The smaller figure feels the stairs tremble and takes a glance over their shoulder to confirm what they already knew; they're being chased. In a panic, the smaller figure tries to move faster, but in doing so, loses their footing right before they get to the top of the stair-case! They fall, but still cling tightly to their small, but seemly important cargo, as they land on their side on the cold, soaking rooftop. As they get-up slowly, clearly a little shaken and worn, the clouds clear in the sky and the moonlight shines down once again, lighting everything... and the figure becomes clear to see...

Green!!

The figure, with it's green skin, is clearly some kind of humanoid reptile, and seems to be feminine. In one arm she holds what appears to be a folder containing many documents, whilst she steadies herself with her other arm. A shadow is cast over her... the other figure has reached her, and looks down on her. The female attempts to get-up, but the larger figure slams a fist in her direction. She barely manages to avoid being hit, and gets back up onto her feet, before turning away and running again. She reaches the edge of the rooftop, and jumps over onto the next one, landing awkwardly as she does so, forcing her into a roll. It's clear she's been on the run for quite some time now and can't keep this up for very much longer. She takes-in a few breaths before getting-up again and making her way across the rooftop, down it's fire escape, and begins a run down a dark alley, hoping to hide in the shadows and get away for good this time.

The figure that has been chasing her continues to follow, still on the rooftop, and is now being followed by a small group of figures dressed in black and wearing masks... Foot Ninja!!

Down below, the girl runs down an alley, going back in the general direction that she came from. She hopes that her pursuer will assume she continued on her way straight ahead instead of turning back. Afterall, it makes no sense to run _toward_ someone that's trying to catch you. She looks up as she runs, keeping an eye on the rooftop to be sure she hasn't been seen.

SMACK

She runs into something that knocks her right off her feet and flat on her back. She lays dazed, her eyes closed and her focus gone.

"Duuude..." A voice groans as a figure sits-up, rubbing the left side of their head. "What hit me?"

This figure, another green reptile, this time male, with a hard shell on his back, wears an orange bandanna... Michelangelo.

He gets-up and wonders over to the girl. As he gets closer he shakes his head and rubs his eyes, barely believing what he sees infront of him; another mutated being. He kneels down beside her and looks at her face, trying to make-out if she's okay.

"Er... hello?" He gives her shoulder a slight nudge. "Are you okay?"

She groans and reaches to her head, rubbing the right side of it. Michelangelo leans over, eager to find-out who she is and where she came. Before her eyes open fully and focus, she remembers what she was doing just before, and she sits-up fast, knocking her forehead against Michelangelo's.

"Ow!!" They both exclaim, holding their heads.

The girl quickly turns to see who's voice she just heard and finds Michelangelo beside her, who looks right back at her. She also notices that she's no longer in possession of the file she'd been carrying the whole time. She scans the floor for it. She sees it, and then takes a glance at Michelangelo again, hoping he hadn't seen it. As far as she knew; he was after her too. Michelangelo follows her focus to where she glances over again, back at the file. He glances back at her again, before looking at the file again and reaching-out to grab it for her. The girl, thinking Michelangelo was going to take the file away from her, quickly pushes him away and reaches for it herself, grabbing it quickly and making another attempt at getting away. Michelangelo stands upright and looks on, totally confused.

"Hey!! Waaaiiit!" He calls out to her, but she disappears into the shadows.

"There you are!" He hears a familiar voice scold from above him.

He looks up to see one of his brothers, Donatello, on his way down a fire escape. "What are you doing!?"

"Don, you are _not_ gonna believe this!" Michelangelo begins, walking toward Donatello.

"You're right. I probably won't." He replies and he steps off the staircase, waiting to hear what his little brother has to say.

"I saw... I saw... well... it, I mean she, was... er... she--" Words fail Michelangelo as he realizes he doesn't even know _what_ she was.

"She?"

"Yeah, she was defiantly a girl."

"Right, so...?"

"I guess she was..." Michelangelo tries hard to think what she could have been.

"What? She either _was_ a girl, or she wasn't."

"That's not what I mean! She was a she! But she was... er..."

"What's going on here?" Another familiar voice, sounding unimpressed, joins them both. It's Leonardo.

"Where have you been?" Another, more angry-toned voice also joins. It's Raphael. "You know we had a mission? Remember!?"

"Er, yeah but--"

"We've been looking all-over for you. You were meant to cover this side and join us on the roof when we signalled." Leonardo reminds him. "We signalled, and you never came."

"We had to abandon the mission!" Raphael adds.

"S-sorry, but--"

"Mikey, it's not that we're mad... we just thought something had happened to you." Donatello tries to explain why their brothers' seems hostile towards him, trying to cool things down at the same time.

"MUTANT!!" Michelangelo shouts, feeling boxed-in by his brothers, and using the only word he can to describe the girl.

The others look at him, and at eachother; confused. Michelangelo stands waiting for a response... but nothing comes. Not even Donatello clicks as he hadn't taken Michelangelo seriously before.

"Her!" He points in the direction the girl ran-off in, but the others just stare blankly. "The she. Ergh! I mean, the girl! She went that way!"

"Er, come again?" Leonardo asks.

"The girl!!" Michelangelo points again. "She's a _mutant_!"

"Wait... you saw a mutant?" Donatello asks, needing confirmation that his brother's serious.

"Yes! That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

"Where!?" Leonardo asks, now seemly more interested in the conversation.

"She was right here! I crashed into her, knocked her over, and she was right here!" Michelangelo now points at the floor where the girl had fallen.

Leonardo and Donatello listen to Michelangelo's story, whilst Raphael just stands by, arms folded, not really believing a word of it. The rain wsa coming down harder now and he was fed-up enough as it was. He didn't feel liek standing around in the pouring listening to his baby brother's wild stories.

"So, why'd she leave?" Leonardo asks.

"I dunno. I wanted to help her, but she grabbed it and ran away."

"Grabbed what?"

"I dunno, some file or something. It was on the ground. I went to hand it to her, but she pushed me, grabbed it, and ran that way." Michelangelo points yet again.

"Maybe you scared her?" Donatello suggests, meaning no harm by it.

"Heeey."

"Mike, that's not what I meant."

"Well, was she a turtle?" Leonardo asks.

"I dunno. I don't think so. She didn't have a shell."

"Can we go now?" Raphael butts-in.

Michelangelo becomes down-heartened that his bigger brother doesn't seem interested, or seem to even believe him. He starts to wonder if his other brothers are really just as uninterested and disbelieving. Leonardo frowns at Raphael, who just shrugs, expecting the story to be forgotten and Michelangelo to be over his "feeling sorry for himself" by the time they get home anyway. Afterall, he was just making-up this story to cover the fact he was goofing-off... wasn't he?

"Well, what _did_ she have? What'd she look like?" Donatello asks, hoping to restart the conversation and hoping he can figure-out what she was from Michelangelo's description.

"Forget it..." Michelangelo gives-up and begins his way home, his poster slumped and his pace slower than usual.

The others closely follow, Donatello feeling bad for Michelangelo, Leonardo feeling angry at Raphael for upsetting Michelangelo, and Raphael _looking_ unfazed, but really wondering if there is actually any truth in the story, but he's far from admitting he's even bothered about it. Michelangelo feels angry and upset his brothers wouldn't take him seriously. But his mind wandered back to the fact; he saw another mutant tonight. It made him wonder if there were more out there. Maybe there were _dozens _more! No, _hundreds_! No, _thousands_! Or maybe he was just being his usual self and letting his over-active imagination run-away with him. Still though, there was no denying it; he saw one.

Michelangelo wasn't the only one thinking about that possibilities either. The journey home was almost completely silent due to the fact that they were all deep in thought. Though Michelangelo didn't know it; _all_ of his brothers, including Raphael, were considering the possibility of other mutant begins, and they were all hoping to hear more of Michelangelo's encounter with one.

As for the mysterious mutant herself; she has other things to deal with right now. The large figure, and the Foot Ninja, have found her, and they waste no-time in latching onto her in a nearby park. She struggles to free herself, but with her arms wrapped tightly around the file, she can't even take a swing for any of them. One of the Foot prepares to shoot her with a tranquiller dart, but she's not about to let it happen. Though it means giving-up the file, she lets it slip from her grip, quickly swinging her free as it falls. She attacks the two ninja that had hold of her, switching to a hand-stand and swinging her legs out and round to kick the ninja that are closest to her. She tries to reach for the file whilst still balancing upside down, but another ninja grabs it first. Her eyes widen at the thought of losing the file for good, but she hasn't much time to think too much about it as she spies the ninja with the tranquiller stepping closer. He shoots, and she swiftly pushes herself further away and back on her feet also, the dart hitting the floor instead of herself. The larger figure becomes fed-up waiting and takes a good few stomps towards her, raising his fist as he gets closer. Spying the file in one Foot Ninja's hand, she knows she's lost when the ninja turns and leaves, followed by a hand-full of others, obviously there to help guard it. She almost steps forward to give chase, but is reminded by an incoming fist that she has something else to worry about. She narrowly dodges the powerful punch, but manages to take a swing back at the larger figure. Her first collides with his face, but she ends-up hurting herself more than her enemy. Time to leave. She's already worn-out from all the fighting and running she'd already done before now. She runs right out of the park gate and into the middle of the road, trying not to get hit by any cars. The large figure chases her, but she stops before he gets to the road... he can't see her. She seems to have disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Two: Information**

"So, did she say anything to you?" Donatello asks Michelangelo as they enter their home.

Michelangelo's unsure if Donatello's setting him up for a round of jokes at his expense. Should he answer? Nah. He turns away and slumps on the sofa, grabbing the TV remote and switching it on. Leonardo looks at Donatello, unsure what to say. Raphael casually walks past the two of them, watching Michelangelo in the corner of his eye. This wasn't like Michelangelo. He's usually the type to just laugh everything off. The way he was being now was defiantly a sign he was serious and the mutant really did exist. No doubt about it.

Leonardo and Donatello make their way over to their youngest brother. Leonardo sits himself in the chair, whilst Donatello plants himself on the sofa beside Michelangelo. There's a strange tension in the air, but Michelangelo doesn't care. He was secretly enjoying winding his brothers up now that most of his real tension was gone. He never was one to carry a grudge for very long. And he knew they'd believe him eventually, especially if he could find her again. For now though, it was fun to pretend to be more serious than he really was, though the fact they'd disbelieve him was still bugging him a little. Michelangelo, though light-hearted and usually able to see the light in every situation, had always counted on his brothers for support in serious matters. And he's much more sensitive than he usually lets on. So when he didn't feel like he got the support he wanted or needed from his brothers; it hurt. He may be a clown, but even _he_ was there for each of _them_ when it mattered.

Raphael was really starting to feel impatient and guilty now. Impatient because he too wanted to hear more about this mutation, and guilty for being the one that put Michelangelo on such a downer. He was also feeling annoyed with his brother for being "such a child" about this and carrying this on for so long. There were times he could really just yell at him to "grow-up". But he never did. Not seriously anyways. Many-a-time had Michelangelo's "individual" qualities broken through even _his_ temper and made him laugh so hard he'd lose his breath.

Michelangelo could feel his brothers' eyes on him, and it was getting harder not to crack a smile and break-down in hysterical laughter. Not to mention the fact that he _wanted_ to talk about the girl he saw. It was hard keeping the smiles, laughs, information, and excitement inside. He was going to explode! Any minute now! Dammit!! He could feel the muscles in his cheeks rising and he tried desperately to hold his straight face. Donatello notices his mouth twitch and begin to pull, on it's way to a grin. But before he can say anything, Raphael walks infront of all of them and switches the TV off. Michelangelo's growing smile falls as he figures Raphael has probably had enough and is about to give him a slap or something. Preparing to block whatever attack was coming his way, he raises his arms. Just a little, so Raphael won't notice. Maybe.

"Alright." Raphael gives-in, a fed-up tone present in his voice. "Who was she?" He folds his arms and stands waiting.

"Huh?" Michelangelo realizes he's not about to getting a new bruise, afterall. "You really wanna know?"

"Of course we do." Donatello insists. "This could be majorley important! I mean, we've come into contact with mutants before, but that was different. Tokka and Rahzar were deliberately mutated in an attempt to defeat us."

"Heh heh, yeah. They sucked." Michelangelo chuckled.

"So, if this mutant was another... "accident..." Donatello always hated using that word to describe himself and his brothers. "...then it's quite possible there are more out there."

"Don't you think we'd have seen 'em by now." Raphael pointed-out, raising a brow.

"Not if they've been hiding." Leonardo counters. "Like us."

"Pfft." Raphael frowns a little at Leonardo before looking at Michelangelo again. "So?"

"Uh..." Michelangelo thinks back. "She was green..."

Typical Michelangelo. The others shake their heads; Leonardo bringing his palm up to his face, Donatello trying not to laugh, and Raphael wondering just how empty his little brother's head really is. Raphael clears his throat, trying to encourage Michelangelo to give a little more information.

"Oh, well... she had blue eyes, a stubby tail, and really light brown hair." He listed.

"She had hair?" Leonardo asks.

"She had a tail?" Raphael asks.

"She had eyes?" Donatello asks, unable to resist.

"Don." Leonardo semi-playfully scolds.

"Yep, yep, and yep." Michelangelo confirms. "Oh, and she had a yellow... erm, I think it was yellow... it was kinda dark out... a scarf thing round her neck. But not like one of those wintry types that're all fluffy and thick."

Michelangelo's brothers were stunned into silence for a moment. All of them in disbelief Michelangelo noticed _and_ remembered those details _and_ had been keeping it to himself this whole time!!

"Mike, how did you _remember_ all that?" Donatello asks, standing-up as he does so.

Michelangelo isn't even sure himself, so he just shrugs, looking up at his brother.

"We could go look for her?" Leonardo suggests.

"Oh yeah, right. We don't even know where she was going." Raphael points out. "Where exactly are you planning to have us run around first, Leo?"

Leonardo frowns at Raphael, before looking over to Michelangelo again. "Do you have _any_ idea where she was going?"

"Hey, don't look at me. I pointed: you ignored." He answers, bringing his arms up and resting his hands behind his head.

"Well, a general direction doesn't really give us much to go on anyways, Mikey." Donatello explains.

"So... how are we supposed to find her?" Michelangelo asks, disheartened at the thought they'd never find her, lower his arms again.

"Don't worry, Mikey." Donatello reassures him. "I'm sure we can come-up with something."

"Yeah well, it's late. So I suggest we all get some sleep first." Leonardo insists. "We can continue this with fresh minds in the morning."

"Suits me." Raphael waves as he heads off to bed first.

"Mike, you _will_ sleep tonight, right?" Leonardo scolds.

Michelangelo just grins sheepishly at his oldest brother. He's well-known for playing video-games all night long instead of getting a proper rest. Sometimes he'd end-up crashing on the sofa at some silly time in the morning, and other times he didn't even sleep at all! And the truth was; he had no intention of sleeping tonight. He had a date... with a video-game.

"Mike." Leonardo folds his arms.

"Yeah, yeah. Later."

"Look, I'm going to check on Master Splinter and then I'm gonna get to bed myself. If I wake-up during the night and find you awake--"

"Night, Mikey." Donatello waves before letting-out a yawn as he turns to leave. "Come on, Leo."

Michelangelo slips himself off of the sofa and reaches his arms forwards to grab something.

"Go to bed, Mikey!" Leonardo calls just before getting to the top of the stairs.

"Bleeeh." He picks up his gaming controller... a plastic guitar. "I've got some serious butt-kickin' to do." He grins.

He turns on his gaming console and slips the guitar strap over his head as he stands-up, and back a little from the TV. As the game loads up, he remembers something else; his headset. He grabs it from the floor by the console, puts it on, and blows into it to check it's switched on. He connects the game online, logs-in with his alias "Punker", and checks who else is on to play against.

"Aw, dude!" He grins, clicking away to connect and offer a game to someone. "Casey, you there!?"

"Mikeeey!" Comes Casey's voice in his headset. "Ready to rock 'n' roll!?"

"Born ready, dude!"

The guys play against eachother for just under an hour, strumming and clicking the buttons, trying to keep-up with the tabs on-screen to each song they choose. Whilst they play, Michelangelo explains to Casey about the mutant he ran into earlier. Soon enough, however, another voice is heard from Casey's end.

"Hey! Sleep!" It's April's voice, calling to Casey.

"Busteeed!" Michelangelo teases.

"Ha! You've had a lucky escape, my friend."

"Yeah, yeah." Michelangelo laughs - he's been winning most of the games, as usual.

"Alright, I'm off. Play you tomorrow?"

"Sure. Night, Casey. Say hi to April for me."

"Will do. And er, I'll relay the information you gave me too."

"Cool. Later, dude."

"Later."

And with that, Casey logs-off. Luckily for Michelangelo, he has a few more "online friends" he can battle with. One of which he hasn't seen online for a few days. Selecting their alias "Pixie", he offers them a game, and wait for their reply. It connects.

"Duuude!" Michelangelo yells down his headset.

"Duuude!" A female voice yells back.

"How's it goin'? I haven't seen you online for a while again."

"Ah, long story..." She trails off.

"You okay?" He asks, but she doesn't answer. "You still there?"

"Y-yeah... sorry."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Naaa, I'd rather kick your ass again."

"What!? Have you forgotten who whooped you last time!?" Michelangelo reminds her playfully.

"Haha!! C'mon, you know I rock so much harder than you!" She jokes.

"Hahaha! Yeah, right! Bring it on!"

They pick a few songs to play against eachother before shouting in unison: "Game on!!"


	3. Chapter 3

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Three: The Plan**

It's morning, and in the Turtle Lair everyone's awake and getting their day started with some breakfast. Everyone that is... except Michelangelo. Whilst the other three sit in the kitchen area around the table with Splinter, Michelangelo snoozes on the sofa. Leonardo shakes his head before taking another spoonful of his cereal. He _knew_ he should have got-up during the night to kick Michelangelo off to bed. Still, there wasn't much he could do about it now. Donatello smirks, catching his older brother's eye.

"It's not funny, Don. He needs his sleep just as much as we do." Leonardo tells his brother, making a point by gently shaking his spoon at him as he talks.

"Ah, you worry too much." Donatello says before taking a bite out of his apple. "You know what he's like. Give him a poke an--"

"A poke!?" Raphael protests, raising a brow, knowing full-well it takes alot more than that to wake Michelangelo up.

Splinter leaves the table quietly, nobody noticing, taking his newspaper with him. He heads over to the TV, sitting in the chair closest to Michelangelo's head, and he turns on the TV with the remote. He takes a look at his youngest son as he sleeps. He smiles and gives a chuckle. He always found amusement in Michelangelo's daily life.

"Alright, push him off the sofa, give him half-an-hour or so and he'll be back to his usual, loud, jumpy, active, jokey, self again." Donatello finishes his point.

"Heh, in that case I think I'd rather he stays asleep all day." Raphael comments.

"Raph!" Leonardo frowns, taking him more seriously than he really was.

Raphael just shrugs.

"Isn't there something you boys wanted to talk to me about?" Splinter calls back, without turning his head to face any of them.

"Hm? How did you know that, Master Splinter?" Leonardo asks, looking over.

"I know everything." He answers, grinning to himself as he only really knew as he'd over-heard them all talking about it the night before.

The three of them walk over to Splinter. He stays seated, folding his newspaper and using it to lightly bash Michelangelo on the head with. The others all get a giggle out of it, and Michelangelo stirs, his eyes beginning to open.

"Wha'...?"

"Time you were awake, my son." Splinter tells him, turning the TV off again and facing his boys as they gather.

Leonardo sits in the empty chair, whilst Raphael remains standing behind the sofa, and Donatello comes round to the front of the sofa, looking down on Michelangelo as he pulls a cushion infront of his face, trying to block-out the light.

"Mikey." Donatello laughs.

"Uh... Now?" Michelangelo asks, his voice muffled by the cushion.

"Now." Donatello confirms.

"_Right_ now?" Michelangelo tries again. "Don't I get the snooze option?"

"You should've slept lastnight like I told you to." Leonardo scolds his little brother, resulting in a groan from Michelangelo as he pulls the cushion away from his face and begins to sit up, allowing Donatello to sit by him on the sofa.

"Eheh..." Michelangelo gives Leonardo a stupid-looking toothy-grin.

"So, anyway..." Donatello begins. "What's the plan for finding that girl?"

"The only thing we can really do is go back to where Mike saw her and start from there." Leonardo explains.

"What?" Asks Raphael, unimpressed.

"You got any better ideas? This is the only lead we've got."

"Hmm... maybe not." Donatello says, thinking again for a moment before continuing.

"Whattcha got, Donnie?" Michelangelo asks, a little more awake.

"Don't get excited or anything, it could just be a coincidence." Donatello warns.

"But?" Leonardo asks.

"The Foot were out lastnight, right?"

"Well yeah. That _was_ why we were out there." Raphael reminds them all, particularly Michelangelo.

"Raph, leave it out." Leonardo tells him.

"Hey, I'm just saying."

"Yeah, well, don't."

"We were meant to be finding-out what they're upto. They've been on the move alot lately."

"That's what I'm wondering." Donatello takes the chance to but-in.

"What, Don?" Michelangelo sits forwards.

"Maybe they're connected. Maybe it would a good idea to go back to the same area, like Leo suggested, but also to keep a closer eye on The Foot and the areas where they're most active." Donatello explains.

"Good idea." Leonardo agrees. "What do you think, Master Splinter?"

Splinter nods.

"Sooo, what do we do in the meantime?" Michelangelo asks.

"There's nothing we _can_ do, Mikey." Donatello tells him. "We've gotta wait 'til it's dark. You know that."

Michelangelo pouts and then starts to think.

"We could scout the sewer?" He suggests.

"And just why would we do that?" Raphael asks.

"Well, _we_ live down here, don't we?"

"Hm, you might be on to something, Mike." Donatello nods.

"But it's still a wide area to search." Leonardo thinks for a moment. "We can start with our original plan; just, below instead of above."

"Heh, good thinkin', Mike." Raphael smiles, and he, Leonardo, and Donatello set-off.

"Heh heh." Michelangelo smiles a proud smile, before leaving to catch-up with his brothers. "Oh, hey, can I take my board!?"

"No!" The three call back to him.

Splinter chuckles, shaking his head at Michelangelo ruining his own moment of glory. He watches their shells as they leave the safety the lair, sighing. His students, no, his sons, were constantly in danger, and though he knew how talented each of them was in battle... it didn't stop him worrying about them. Especially when they were out of sight. It was why he always waited-up to hear them come back when they went out at night. Though, he would never tell them that. On the outside, Splinter was always calm and collected, but on the inside, he sometimes found himself worrying that at any time; one of them, or even some or all of them, may come back too seriously injured to do anything about. Or even... that they might not come back at all.

Splinter dealt with these emotions the best way he knew how; meditation. Focusing on the positive, and reminding himself of the fact that they've dealt with difficult situations before, time and time again, and they've always come out okay in the end. It always calmed his nerves. As their teacher, their guide, he would always set the example and remain calm, and positive, infront of his students. But as their father... it was only natural to fear for the safety of his sons...


	4. Chapter 4

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Four: Tag**

Many hours have passed, and, in groups of two, the Turtles have been searching the sewers without a break since they left the lair this morning. They're all starting to wonder if this search is just a waste of time. She, whoever she was, could be anywhere. And they still had plans to search the city during the night.

Leonardo and Raphael were searching in the general direction that Michelangelo had said the girl went the night before. And Donatello and Michelangelo were searching in the opposite direction, just incase. The agreement was made to meet back at the lair after sunset, whether or not they found her. It would give them a chance to exchange any information they may have gathered, and allow them to re-group and take a break before continuing their search above.

"This is stupid." Raphael comments, trailing behind Leonardo. "She could be anywhere."

"That's why we split-up." Leonardo reminds him as they continue on their way. "And that's why it's called a "search"".

"Whatever."

"Look, we've only got a little while 'til sundown and then we can go back and meet with the others. Maybe they've found something."

"In which case, _we'll_ have been wasting our time looking this way."

"Raph..."

"C'mon, Leo. She might not even _be_ down here." He stops in his tracks. "And even if she is; so what!?"

Leonardo also stops, turning to face his brother.

"What are we gonna do if we find her and she runs off again? We gonna _force_ her to come with us!?" Raphael continues.

"I see your point, Raph. But we _have_ to try, at least just to talk with her." Leonardo pleas. "She might be all alone and need our help. And she might be able to tell us if there are more... of our kind."

"What, this family isn't _enough_ for you anymore!?" Raphael argues.

"That's _not_ what I mean, Raph!" He yells, and then turns away, continuing down the tunnel. "I just mean... it can't hurt... to know we're not alone..."

"So what if we are!? I don't care."

"Whatever, Raph." Leonardo then looks over his shoulder at his brother again. "If you didn't care; you wouldn't be here..."

Meanwhile, Donatello and Michelangelo are having trouble keeping track of _eachother_, let alone their target. They'd separated to search two different turn-offs at the same time, but on the way back, Michelangelo had taken a different turn after he thought he heard something. Donatello's already on his way in the direction Michelangelo had originally gone in, suspecting something was up when he failed to rejoin him a few minutes ago.

"Mikey?" He calls out, and waits for a response. "Mike?"

After he gets no reply again, he starts to worry, picking-up speed and continuing to call-out for his little brother as he goes. Luckily, it isn't long before Donatello finds him; about to take a turn down another tunnel.

"Hey, Mikey!" He calls, catching-up with him and giving him a light slap to the back of his head.

"Ow!" Michelangelo rubs his head.

"What do you think you're doing!? You were supposed to meet back up with me!"

"I thought I heard something."

"Then you should've _called_ me! Not go running off on your own!" Donatello scolds, causing Michelangelo to roll his eyes. "Mike!"

"Okay, okay, I get it."

They continue down the tunnel Michelangelo was about to turn into. They move quickly, but quietly, just incase there _is_ someone or something waiting for them around the next corner. But when they get to the end and look out both ways; there's nothing. Emptiness. Not even the lights are working down this next tunnel.

Suddenly, something crosses their previous path, running past the other end of the tunnel, behind them. The pair turn around fast, but don't see anything. Still, they defiantly both _heard_ something go by, so they run back the way they came. They take a left turn out of the tunnel, back the way Michelangelo was _meant_ to go to meet back with Donatello before, as they follow the direction they think "it" went.

When they end-up back at their original meet-up point, they see and hear nothing. And there are too many different tunnels to choose from to continue searching.

"D-do you think it was her?" Michelangelo whispers, getting a little creeped-out as the thought of something scary wondering the sewer crosses his mind.

"Hang on a sec..." Donatello tries to listen... ... nothing. "Whoever or whatever it is; it must be hiding. We'd still be able hear it making it's way down one of the tunnel's if it was on the move."

He was right. Something was lurking, crouched in the shadows of the opening to a tunnel behind, and not far from the brothers. Donatello signals that he'll go down one way, and Michelangelo should go up the other way. They step as lightly as they can in their respective directions, taking a look down each turn-off.

The hidden figure can hear Donatello getting closer with each step he takes. They pluck a small stone from the floor and throw it so that it hits the ground further behind Donatello, grabbing his attention and effectively diverting it. Donatello begins to make his way over to the noise he just heard, Michelangelo doing the same as he heard it too. But Donatello isn't entirely convinced that all is as it seems, and he still listens for any movement behind him.

He isn't kept waiting very long as he hears a sudden shuffle and a figure exists the shadows and heads down the tunnel that was opposite them, a yellow scarf trailing behind. It _is_ her!

"There!!" Donatello turns quickly and they give chase.

As they turn into the tunnel they saw her run into, they find she's turned-off into another one and have lost sight of her already. They have to stop for a moment to listen to where she is. They listen for her footsteps, and, once they know which directions she's in; they continue, trying to catch sight of her again. But it's harder than it seems as they keep having to stop every-so-often to listen again, without the sound of their own feet interfering with their judgement. It's a frustrating chase and they desperately try not to lose her completely. If they could only get her in sight then they'd most likely be able to catch her.

Luckily for them, she misjudges her own directions and ends-up running right out infront of them. Her eyes widen as she finds herself within arm's reach and she almost stumbles right over in a panic to stop and turn around again.

"Hey, wait!" Michelangelo calls as she turns away and runs-off.

"We're not trying to hurt you!" Donatello calls as they chase her once again.

This time however, they've got her in sight and this makes it a whole lot easier in keeping pace with her. Infact, they're catching up. The girl takes a quick glance behind to see the two Turtles chasing after her still, closing-in. She fumbles around as she pulls something from her belt, it bounces in her hand as she tries to grip it ready to throw, but it bounces right out of her hands by accident. As it bursts into smoke, she shrugs and grins to herself; she may have dropped it by accident, but it still had the desired effect; Donatello and Michelangelo are stopped in their tracks, their path blinded from the smoke pellet.

"Can't breathe!" Michelangelo coughs, trying to waft the smoke away, but being unsuccessful.

"Where'd she get _that_ from!?" Donatello wonders, before grabbing Michelangelo by the wrist. "Close your eyes! We're gonna have to run through it or we'll lose her!"

"Can't see!" Michelangelo coughs as they pass through the smoke, having only his brother's hand as guidance.

As she takes another look back, the girl notices Donatello and Michelangelo coming through the smoke and as she brings her head back to face forwards again, she spots Leonardo and Raphael waiting at the end of the tunnel. And she's without any turn-offs left! There's only one way she can go: up. There's a ladder reaching up to a manhole cover, but the ladder's broken and she'll have to make a jump for it.

Leonardo and Raphael notice her focus shifting from them to the broken ladder. Neither of them think she'll make the jump, but to be sure, they run towards her, hoping to either grab her before she gets a chance to jump, or to surround her. None of them liked doing things this way, but as she wasn't prepared to give them a chance to explain why they want to talk to her; it's the only way to get her to stand still long enough to explain.

The girl makes a jump for the ladder, just grabbing the last step and pulling herself up it, pushing her feet against the wall to help her climb. The Turtles gather below and Leonardo jumps up first, grabbing the ladder and following her up as fast as he can. She makes it to the top and pushes on the manhole cover. But it's heavy and she struggles with it. She ends-up having to use both hands, almost falling backwards.

"What are you waitin' for, Leo!?" Raphael yells, seeing Leonardo waiting just below her now. "Grab 'er!!"

Leonardo glares down at him, knowing how bad that would have sounded to the girl. So much for trying to prove they're friendly! And he was only waiting because it would have been dangerous to struggle with her on the ladder.

Finally, she gets out. It's getting dark, so that's one good thing, at least. She has less chance of being spotted by humans. She lifts herself out of the hole and makes a dash to an alley-way, hiding behind a dumpster for a moment, before taking herself up the fire escape of the building closest to her. Leonardo watches her as he gets up from the hole, followed by the others. He points to the fire escape as she's nearing the top and they run over to the building.

"Donnie, Mikey, you guys follow from down here. Me and Raph'll follow her up." Leonardo organizes his team.

"Right!" Donatello agrees.

Michelangelo nods, and gets ready to go.

"Er, you might wanna re-think that plan, Leo." Raphael says, pointing upwards.

The others look too and see what their brother means. The girl is stumbling about at the top of the fire escape, trying to get back down again, but wobbling all over the place. As she goes down the steps, her body slumps to one side and she leans against the railing of the fire escape, putting one hand on it, trying to keep herself from falling over the side. Her other arm just hangs, limp.

"She's gonna fall!" Michelangelo yells.

Leonardo begins to make his way up the steps, hoping to reach her before it's too late. As he looks up, he notices a large figure standing on the edge of the roof, looking down on the girl. Leonardo reaches her and notices she's been shot with a tranquilliser dart in her upper arm. She begins to panic, not knowing which way to go. Up to the big guy and The Foot ninja that are most likely up on the roof with him waiting for her, or down to the Turtles who have been chasing her all this time. She struggles to stay upright and to keep her eyes open, swaying as she tries to hold herself still.

"Come on." Leonardo reaches out his hand to her. "We'll help you."

But before she can make any decisions, the large figure throws another dart at her and it releases it's serum as it hits her in one of her legs. That's it; she's done. But as her eyes close and she falls, she's hit with yet _another_ dart, this time in her other arm. She falls forwards and Leonardo catches her, and shields her from another incoming dart. It hits his shell and bounces away, landing on the ground below. As he carries the girl back down the fire escape, the others watch, and prepare for a fight with the big guy still standing on the roof. But, to their surprise, as Leonardo reaches them, the large figure turns away, and leaves.

"That's... weird." Donatello comments, relaxing again, and he retrieves the dart that bounced off of Leonardo's shell.

"So, that's her, huh?" Raphael looks at the girl held in Leonardo's arms.

"Yep." Michelangelo confirms. "But _those_ are new." He says, referring to the darts.

"She was shot _three times_!?" Donatello pulls them out of each of her arms and her leg.

Leonardo nods, and they run back over to the manhole, jumping in on at a time. Leonardo has to drop the girl down before he can get in himself.

"I got 'er." Raphael calls up as he catches her limp body.

The brothers then begin their way back to the lair, Donatello insisting they get her back as soon as possible so he can give her something to counter-act the sedatives she's been overdosed with.


	5. Chapter 5

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Five: Patience**

"Is she gonna be okay?" Leonardo asks as he leans in, looking over the girl who's now laying on the sofa unconscious.

"Well, I've given her what I can for now." Donatello answers, getting up from where he was knelt-down infront of her, a now empty syringe in his hand. "All we can really do is monitor her progress and, well... wait."

Michelangelo was sat forward in one of the chairs, whilst Raphael was perched on the arm of it. Both of them looking over at the mutant reptile. Splinter was stood infront of the TV, also watching over her. Donatello disposes of the used needle and then comes back to join his family.

"Perhaps we should find her somewhere more comfortable, and more quiet, to rest." Splinter suggests.

"Yeah." Leonardo nods, picking her up gently. "Mikey, you don't mind, right?"

"Huh?"

"Your bed."

"Oh! Err, no. But why'd you pick mine?"

"Because you hardly ever _use_ your bed. I'm sure you won't miss it." Leonardo answers, carrying the girl off and up the stairs.

"Oh... well, I bet _now_ you're glad I stay-up late, huh!?"

"Don't push it, Mike." He calls back.

Leonardo takes her into Michelangelo's room, rolling a skateboard out of the way as he enters. Michelangelo never was the most tidy of the brothers. The tidiest part of his room was his bed. Michelangelo hadn't used his bed since Donatello had done the laundry recently, so his quilt was nicely folded at the foot of the bed. Posters of random things likes skateboards and video-games are stuck to his walls. Along with a notice board full of photos of his family, and the all-important Checco's Pizzeria leaflet - just incase he ever forgot the number. His desk is cluttered with comics and manga, as well as a couple of notebooks and drawing pads, and a few pens and pencils scattered about instead of being in the desk-tidy. In one corner sits a large box, it's lid left open, containing his gaming consoles, games, CDs, and DVDs that aren't already downstairs by the TV.

Leonardo lays the girl down on Michelangelo's bed, and covers her with the quilt. He takes a step back and looks her over. There was nothing more he could do. He didn't have Donatello's medical know-how, and even if he did; it might not be much use. Donatello didn't exactly sound over-confident about whether she'd pull-through or not. Leonardo lets out a heavy sigh as he leaves the room and rejoins his family. Himself and each of his brothers displaying expressions full of doom and gloom.

"Be patient, my sons." Splinter comforts. "You mustn't lose hope so early on in the fight." He then begins making his way to the training room. "Worrying won't change the outcome. And she may be stronger than you give her credit for."

"Master Splinter's right..." Leonardo says, trying to help relieve the situation of it's depressive state. "We'll just have to keep an eye on her like Donnie said. Take each moment as it comes."

"You don't sound too convinced yourself." Raphael replies, hearing the doubt in his brother's voice, and seeing it even clearer in his eyes.

"Come on, guys. Let's get on with things." Donatello suggests, heading to the kitchen. "I'll check on her in ten minutes or so and take some readings on her blood pressure and temperature." He tells them as he grabs a can of soda from the fridge.

"Wait, wait." Raphael suddenly remembers something. "Aren't we still gonna go look for The Foot?"

"Hmm, that _was_ our original plan before we heard about--" Leonardo thinks and then gives a nod. "Let's go! Donnie, you stay here and keep-up your checks. Mikey, you--" He notices that Michelangelo has fallen asleep in the chair.

"Ah, let him stay here." Raphael insists, leaving, wanting to get out and find some action. "He needs his sleep, remember!?" He calls back.

"Don't worry about him." Donatello comes to stand by Leonardo, looking down on Michelangelo. "He's alright where he is. Just... don't get into anything you two can't handle by yourselves."

"Thanks, Donnie." Leonardo smiles, appreciating his brother's concern.

Donatello smiles back at his big brother, and Leonardo then gives him a nod before leaving, calling out for Raphael to wait for him. Donatello watches until he's out of sight, and then takes another look down at Michelangelo, still asleep. He chuckles to himself before picking-up his sphygmometer, thermometer, and a small watch, from the table and heading up the stairs.

Donatello enters Michelangelo's room, pulling the desk chair closer to the bedside and laying the instruments on his lap as he sits down. First, he checks her pulse, using the watch to time it. It's still not right, but then, he didn't expect it to be just yet. He then used the thermometer to check her temperature, before using the sphygmometer to check her blood pressure. All these tests were difficult, given the circumstances. Even for Donatello. It had taken him long enough to discover just what's normal for a mutated rat and turtles. He had no idea what should be considered normal for... whatever she was. The best he could do was compare everything to the statistics of himself and his brothers, and attempt adjusting those after taking into consideration her own height, and build. But it wasn't easy, and a big enough error could prove fatal.

With his checks finished again for now, Donatello leaves Michelangelo's room, his equipment in-hand. He places them on a table near his workstation. He grabs the pen and writing pad he'd previously left on his computer chair and he makes a quick note of the checks he's done, including what time he did them and what the results were. He takes the pad and pen with him as he wonders into the kitchen, taking a seat and resting the pad on the table. He can't help feeling that there must be _something_ else he can do. He looks over his notes, over and over, thinking hard about how best to go about his calculations before giving her anymore medication to help counter-act the tranquillisers. Resting his cheek in his hand, as he starts to feel drowsy himself, numbers spinning in his head. His eye-lids become heavy and start to close, and his head tilts as he begins to drift-off...

But the loud sound of "Through The Fire And Flames" by Dragonforce suddenly brings him back out of his drifting with a start! He looks over to see Michelangelo now awake and playing the same game he was playing the night before; Guitar Hero III. It's a hard and fast song, and Michelangelo strums and taps as fast as he can, trying to keep up and get himself a new high score. Donatello can't help but feel Michelangelo did this on purpose to wake him up, but he didn't really mind that much. He didn't want to fall asleep when he was meant to be checking-up on the girl again soonish. But all this noise was keeping him from thinking. Still, he wouldn't need these calculations until tomorrow _if_ he needed to administrate anymore medication at all. Time for a break!

"Game?" He offers Michelangelo, yelling over the thumping sound.

"Heh heh! A challenger appears!!" Michelangelo laughs, still trying to play.

Donatello picks up another guitar controller and waits for Michelangelo to finish the long song. He watches on amazed as the hardest part comes along and Michelangelo manages to keep-up with almost every note. Donatello always forgot just how long this song was, and how hard. He's not even attempted it himself on the difficulty setting Michelangelo had it on.

"So, how is she?" Michelangelo asks as he plays.

"No change yet." Donatello answers. "But I'm gonna check on her after we do a song or two."

The song continues, and Michelangelo keeps going. Playing any song on this game was difficult enough when you only have two fingers, but playing a song like **this** on a harder setting when you only have two fingers and sometimes need to hit three buttons at a time seemed impossible... at least to the others. Michelangelo, on the other hand, was _determined_ to master this song one day.

"Hahaaa!!" Michelangelo yells, finishing the song at last and taking a look at his new score.

"Getting even better, Mike." Donatello praises, getting prepared. "Shall we?"

Michelangelo passes his brother a mischievous-grin.


	6. Chapter 6

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Six: Deep Thoughts**

As midnight approaches, the only light available is that of the moon and the street lamps as Leonardo and Raphael make their way over the rooftops of the city. It's a cooler night than the one before, and the clouds that gather in the sky bring the promise of rain again. Neither of the brothers have seen or heard anything of The Foot so far tonight. And they both have other things on their minds at the same time as their present mission. They're both concerned for the girl back at the lair; hoping she'll make it through, hoping she can answer their questions, and hoping she won't run-off again.

Leonardo also wonders what will happen next, after she wakes-up, after the questions; what's next? Will she stay with them? _Should_ she stay with them? What will the others think if he wants her to stay? And if she does stay; what will she do? This team is a brotherhood. Is there really any room for an addition? She might not even be able to fight. And even if she's taught; she might not be any good at it. Staying in the lair all day, everyday wouldn't be much of a life for anybody. But then again... what did she do before now?

As they continue to scout around, the rain starts to fall lightly, and Leonardo's mind continues to wander. He wonders about what the girl has been doing up until now. Where she has been living, what she has been doing during the day, and during the night. He wonders what kind of personality she has. What kind of things she's into. And how she got into the situation she's in.

Raphael, on the other hand, was a little more suspicious. He too wonders what she's like, and if she will stay with them in the end, but he also wonders if this whole thing is just a set-up. Maybe she's a spy? But then again, maybe she's not. His mind tangles and he doesn't really know _what_ to think of her. But he's defiantly going to keep his wits about him until he's _sure_ she can be trusted. He was already starting to feel uncomfortable with the fact that she'd been left in the lair, even if going out tonight _was_ his idea. He knows Splinter, Donatello, and Michelangelo are there, but anything could happen. And given that they properly aren't suspicious like he is; they wouldn't be prepared for it.

Back at the lair, Splinter's still awake, sipping at some green tea as he sits at the kitchen table. Donatello's upstairs in Michelangelo's room, performing his checks on the girl again. And Michelangelo's lazing on the sofa, semi-watching The Incredibles. His head rests on one of the arms, and his eyes start to close as he drifts-off again. A couple of Checco's Pizzeria boxes are sat on the floor beside the sofa, along with a few soda cans, two Pepsi's and a Dr Pepper.

Donatello comes back downstairs, his medical instruments in-hand, and once again he leaves them on a table near his workstation. Splinter watches him as he do so, noticing his gloomy expression as he writes down his latest results. There's obviously still no change to the girl's condition.

Donatello enters the kitchen, dropping his note pad and pen on the table and then grabbing a Dr Pepper can from the fridge, cracking it open after he shuts the fridge door again. He takes a seat beside Splinter, picking-up his pad again and checking over the numbers. It was looking like he was going to need those calculations for tomorrow, afterall. He was hoping she'd be showing some signs of improvement by now, but she wasn't. Splinter puts a hand on his son's shoulder, trying to offer comfort. Donatello tries to force a smile, but it doesn't come. His head is full of numbers, frustration, and worry.


	7. Chapter 7

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Seven: Calculations**

Another day begins, and spirits aren't exactly high. Leonardo and Raphael, now sat at the kitchen table eating their breakfast, had no luck finding The Foot lastnight. Donatello is sat at his workstation, typing in calculations as he tries to work-out what volume of medication to give to the girl today. He would have been up all night running over the figures if Splinter hadn't urged him to get some sleep and try again in the morning. Michelangelo's still on the sofa, listening to some music on his MP3 player, trying to take his mind off current events. Feeling low wasn't something he liked, and he knew there wasn't anything he could do to help the situation anyways. Splinter agreed that being worried and stressed never helps things. Whatever is _meant_ to happen; is _going_ to happen, regardless of worry or stress. Splinter himself, is meditating on the matter.

Donatello leaves his seat and wanders over to another workbench, this one full of beakers, test-tubes, and-the-like. He'd previously taken a sample from the sedative still inside the dart he'd picked-up that had bounced off Leonardo's shell the night before. He'd left a number of tests running through the night to determine exactly what chemicals were in the mix The Foot were using to dart their enemies with. He figured this could help him prepare an anti-sedative that would be much more effect than his currently, basic one. One which would benefit the girl; helping her to recover, and the team; as he would try to concentrate a mixture that was strong enough to use in small amounts, thus fitting inside some small capsules that they could easily carry with them on missions.

As the test results are all ready for him, he collects the papers from the printer and studies the results as he takes a seat at the work bench. He picks-up a pencil and begins scribbling notes and numbers on the paper, calculating how to go about making the new anti-sedative.

Michelangelo glances over. He tries to ignore whatever it is Donatello is upto and goes back to nodding his head to his music. But, as usual with Michelangelo, his curiosity gets the better of him and he wanders over to his brother, taking his headphones off as he does so. He stands beside him, Donatello too focused to notice his little brother standing there, peering over his shoulder.

"Whattcha doin'?" He asks, making Donatello jump.

"Mikey! Don't do that!"

"Do what?"

"Nevermind. Just... don't touch anything, okay!?"

Michelangelo groans. He really did get the feeling sometimes that his brothers thought he was completely stupid and useless.

"Sorry, Mike... it's just that this is really important... I can't mess this up." Donatello explains with a worried expression.

"You won't." Michelangelo smiles, before leaving his brother to get on with things.

Hours pass, and Donatello has been calculating and mixing chemicals the whole time. Leonardo and Raphael are in the training room with Splinter, and Michelangelo is lounging around on the sofa reading a comic, trying to stay quiet so as not to disturb Donatello.

"Finished!!" Donatello exclaims loudly, getting-up from his chair.

He then takes a beaker full of the anti-sedative that he just finished preparing, and takes it up to his room. Donatello's room was kept pretty tidy. The odd empty, crushed, soda can laying around, and a bunch of tools and gadgets on his desk. Donatello preferred to keep medical equipment in an organised chest in his room. That way he knew where everything was if it was ever needed. No chance of any of it being misplaced around the lair.

He opens the chest and pulls out a small box full of packaged syringes, of which he plucks one out, unwraps it, and fills it with his new serum. He then places the box back in the chest, and closes the lid, before heading out of his room and into Michelangelo's. He takes a seat beside the bed, but before he continues, he decides to run his checks again.

"Mikey!" He calls.

"Yeeeaaah?"

"Can you bring me the equipment on my chair?"

Michelangelo puts his comic book on the coffee table and walks over to Donatello's workstation, grabbing everything on the chair and taking it up to him.

"Thanks, Mike." Donatello takes the equipment off of his little brother and offers him the syringe. "Can you hold this for me?"

"Err..." Michelangelo gulps, he wasn't one for needles. "S-sure..."

Donatello runs his checks and then takes the syringe back from a near-to-fainting Michelangelo.

"Sorry, I know you're a whimp when it comes to this stuff."

"Wha'? A whimp? I--"

Donatello proceeds to inject the serum into the girl, and Michelangelo makes a hasty retreat from the room, close to throwing-up.

"Okay, that's all I can do now." Donatello says as he joins Michelangelo, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

"You did that on purpose."

"I came up here with the intention of giving her the anti-sedative, ergo; I gave her the anti-sedative." Donatello then starts making his way back down stairs again, after retrieving the beaker from his room. "I'll check on her again in fifthteen minutes."

"What if she wakes-up _before_ then?" Michelangelo takes a look round, into his room.

"I doubt it." Donatello answers, calling back up to Michelangelo, his attention then diverted as the phone rings. "Hello?" He answers. "April? What's wrong? Calm down... ... What? When?... ... ... Okay, just, stay calm. Where are you?... Right, we'll be there."

"What happened?" Michelangelo asks, still on the upper level.

"Casey. We gotta go. Come on!" He and Michelangelo then head to the training room to get their brothers.


	8. Chapter 8

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Eight: Awakening**

The Turtles, minus Michelangelo, rush over to Casey and April's apartment. Michelangelo has been voted by the others to stay behind incase the girl wakes-up and needs a friendly face. And there is no friendlier face than that of their little brother, afterall. And besides; he was the first of them to come into contact with her. None of them are really expecting her to wake-up anytime soon anyway. It's just a precaution as she'll most likely be scared and confused when she wakes-up in a place she doesn't recognise.

The rest of the brothers, however, climb up the fire escape and through the open window of Casey and April's apartment. They find April nursing an unconscious Casey on the sofa. He's clearly been in a fight as he lays there, battered and bruised.

"He just... came in and collapsed." April explains with tearful eyes. "He mumbled something about The Foot just before he collapsed. That's why I called you guys. Is he going to be okay...?" April asks Donatello as he comes over to take a look.

"Yeah, I think so." Donatello answers, giving her a reassuring smile before continuing to check him over. "There." He points to a tiny mark in his arm. "It's a puncture. Probably another case of tranquiller darting."

"Well that explains why he collapsed." Raphael comments. "Casey's not one to go down in a fight easy."

"Raph, let's go make sure there's no one hanging around." Leonardo orders, himself and his brother leaving to make sure Casey wasn't followed home.

"We shouldn't have left her back home with just Mike, Leo." Raphael says to Leonardo as they climb the fire escape the rest of the way up.

"Raph, she probably won't even wake-up before we get back. What's your problem with her anyway?"

"We don't know anything about her."

"Let's just do what we came here to do, okay?"

Back inside...

"What are you doing?" April asks Donatello as he pulls a small vile with a tiny needle attached to it, from the medical pouch he bought with him.

"Waking him up." He answers, sticking him with the needle, the fluid instantly releasing itself into his blood system. "Did you manage to catch exactly what it was he said?"

"No, he was so drowsy he couldn't speak properly."

"Hm. Well, give him a little while and he should wake-up. This stuff is probably more potent to humans."

"Probably?"

"It's a new mix." Donatello tells her.

After hearing over the phone that Casey was out-cold, he'd suspected it could've been due to sedation, so he quickly made-up a few capsules of his new anti-sedative before they left the lair.

Outside...

Leonardo and Raphael split-up, searching around Casey and April's apartment building. They check up and down the fire escapes on both sides, as well as the roof, and the streets and alleyways nearby. Neither of them find anything, but they decide to continue looking.

Back inside, Donatello and April wait for Casey to wake-up...

"Hey, where's Mike?" April asks, wondering why it's quiet.

"With Splinter and our, er, new friend."

"Friend?"

"It's a long story. Short version; we met another mutant, she was dosed with tranquillisers, and she's currently recovering (hopefully), at our's."

"What!? Another mutant?"

"Huh...?" Casey begins to wake-up already, but his vision is blurred at first.

April smiles down him, relieved he's okay.

"Casey, can you tell us what happened?" Donatello asks.

"Er... yeah. I went out to grab some stuff from the twenty-four hour store just around the corner. I was... shot in the arm." He remembers, rubbing the area the tranquiller hit. "No wait! Before that I was chasing this kid!"

"A kid did this?" April asks.

"Yeah, no, I mean it was like this... he tried to mug me, so I chased him off. He dropped this..." Casey reaches inside his pocket and pulls-out a crumpled piece of paper, handing it to Donatello. "I tried to follow him, but I was jumped by The Foot and shot."

"The Foot don't usually attack at random. He must've been one of their-own." Donatello then opens-up the piece of paper. "Oh... this is _not_ good..."

Back at the lair...

Michelangelo has been busying himself, in-between lookin-in on the girl, with his skateboard and ramp whilst he waits for the girl to wake-up, or for his brothers to return; which ever happens first. Splinter was meditating again, a pot of green tea and a small cup sits on his table.

There's a sudden thud from upstairs. Michelangelo doesn't hear it through the sound of his stereo and his boarding. Splinter, on the other hand, notices, but stays put, waiting...

In Michelangelo's room, the mutant girl is now on the floor, having fallen from the bed. Her co-ordination is a little off due to the drugs still flowing around her system and her vision is a little blurry still. She tries to shake it off, and though her vision doesn't return very much just yet, she exists the room, not even taking-in her surroundings. She doesn't know where she is, or how she got here, but she knows she wants to get out. She crawls on the floor, her balance still off and her vision still not 100. The sound of Michelangelo boarding has stops as he enters the kitchen. She listens to his foot-steps, and, knowing where _not_ to go now, she heads down the stairs and runs into a small room, closing the door behind her.

As she turns around, and her vision finally clears completely, she notices Splinter, sat on the floor behind his table. She reaches for the door handle again, whilst keeping an eye on Splinter, shocked and scared. She pulls it open, just a little, before Splinter speaks.

"Do not be afraid." He says calmly. "I mean you no harm. You are safe here."

His voice is warm and welcoming, soothing and wise. And as she takes a peep through the door, she sees the back of Michelangelo's head as he exists the kitchen again, a Pepsi can in one hand and one set of spinning nunchaku in the other, and decides that, the old rat-man was less of a threat than the giant, armed, reptile outside. And his voice did take away some of her fears and panic.

She sits on the floor, opposite Splinter, the table separating them. Though she looks worried, her eyes burn with curiosity also.


	9. Chapter 9

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Nine: New Friends**

Splinter and the girl had spent the past quarter-of-an-hour discussing various things, such as Splinter's family, their past and present. Including their origin; a story Splinter had told a few times before, but he never tired of telling it. Though there was still more he could tell her, he felt that, for now at least, she had enough to deal with. The shock of waking-up in a strange place, and being faced with a giant rat, was probably enough to spin anyone's mind, but now she had all this information to think about too. And there's still the matter of meeting the boys...

"...now, do you feel up to meeting my sons?" Splinter asks the girl as he stands, a gentle smile across his face.

She stays silent for a moment, thinking it over. Though she's curious to meet the ones who had bought her here, the ones she'd heard Splinter talk about... she's still nervous. Splinter walks towards the door and pushes it half-way open.

"All you have to do is walk through it." He offers.

She stands-up slowly and walks towards Splinter and the half-open door, nervously peering round it. Nothing. There's no one there.

"Only one of them is home." Splinter tells her, hoping this will make things seem a little less scary for her.

She takes another look, but still can't see anyone. She can hear the music still playing, but there's defiantly nobody in-sight. She turns to Splinter again and shakes her head a little. Splinter decides to go out and take a look. No one.

"Michelangelo?" He calls out loudly.

"Right here!" Michelangelo answers from the top of the stairs, giving his father a toothy-grin to say 'hello'. "I was just gonna che--"

"There's no need." Splinter tells him, confusing him.

Splinter waves his hand, signalling Michelangelo to come down to him.

"It's alright." Splinter calls softly to the girl, whilst staying stood infront of Michelangelo. "Don't be afraid."

Michelangelo looks over to the still half-open door, and the girl peers round again, looking and feeling unsure. Splinter gives her a nod and another smile to confirm that everything's okay, encouraging her to come forward. She steps out from behind the door cautiously, and walks towards them both, standing beside Splinter.

"This, is Michelangelo." Splinter introduces.

"Er, hi!" Michelangelo gives her a smile which starts off small and welcoming, but turns into his usual tooth-filled, goofy-looking smile.

The sight causes her to giggle, already making her feel more relaxed.

"Hi!" She greets back, giving a small wave and matching his goofy smile with her own.

"Sooo, what's your name?" Michelangelo asks, un-intestinally causing her to feel a little awkward again.

"She doesn't have a name." Splinter explains. "But it's alright..." He smiles at her. "... I can give her one."

Her blue eyes light-up at the thought of finally being given a name of her own, and she smiles almost uncontrollably.

"For now, however, I will leave you in the care of my son." Splinter says, then turning away, and heading for his own room. "Be sure to show her around and make her feel at home. I shall return with a name." He gives them both a smile before continuing on his way.

Michelangelo playfully salutes Splinter as he leaves, and then looks back at the girl.

"Come on! I'll show you around." He says giving her another smile.

"Lead the way!" She smiles back, her nervousness almost completely dissolved now.

"Hmm, let's see... kitchen." Michelangelo points to the kitchen area.

"Whassat!?" She points over to Donatello's workstation.

"That's Donnie's computers 'n' stuff." Michelangelo answers.

"Wow..." She then releases she doesn't know who he means. "Donnie?"

"My brother. Erm, _one_ of my brothers. Hmm, what next... Oh! The living area type... thing." He points to the area with the tv and sofa.

"Hey cool!" Something catches her eye. "You play!?" She points at the Guitar Hero controller.

"Doesn't everybody!?" Michelangelo grins. "You wanna play?"

"Sure!!"

"Wait... I guess I should finish giving you the tour first or I'll probably end-up in trouble with Splinter." He says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey, no problem! Let's go!" She smiles, eager to see everything. "This place is so cool!"

As they continue their way around the lair, with Michelangelo pointing out what's what, there's almost no feelings of awkwardness between them at all. Instead, they both feel that there's something familiar about the other. It makes things alot easier, and allows the girl to relax and take-in everything she's being told and shown. This place amazed her.

Michelangelo gave her a quick peek inside everyone's rooms, not actually going inside them incase his brothers got mad with him or something. As he shows her his own room, where she had been staying, she takes a look around, this time taking-in the posters on the walls, the bits and pieces laying around on the floor and the desk. She notices he has quite a collection of comic and manga books and they engage in a lively conversation about them.

The girl begins to forget her problems with The Foot, and instead just enjoys herself. This feeling of relaxation and happiness was something she loved, but often something she failed to have due to the problems that she faced everyday. Here, she's able to just let go. She's able to laugh without having to keep her whits about her incase something or someone attacks her whilst her guard's down. She feels comfortable in her present company, and enjoys finally having some real company too. She feels safe at last.

But what's more important to her is... she's making real friends.


	10. Chapter 10

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Ten: For Keeps**

Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello finally make it back to the lair. As they burst-in, Leonardo makes his way quickly to find Splinter, whilst Raphael rushes to Michelangelo's room, followed closely by Donatello. As they turn into the room, they find no sign of the girl. Raphael is fuming, whilst Donatello is relieved. As they turn-about and leave, Donatello notices something, and he silently forwards Raphael's attention over to the old train.

On top of one of the carriages, Michelangelo is crouched down on one knee, seemingly listening or waiting for something. One hand is on the roof, balancing him, whilst he carries a small plastic gun in the other. It's loaded with a suction-cup dart. Below him, inside the carriage, the girl stands, looking very cautious, her head tilted upwards as she listens for any sign of where exactly Michelangelo is. She also carries a plastic gun loaded with a suction-cup dart. Neither of them notice the others as stand watching from the top of the stairs now, Splinter stands at the foot of the stairs with Leonardo, silently ordering them to stay where they are and just wait.

The roof below Michelangelo's feet makes a sharp creaking sound as he stands upright, preparing to move. He freezes when he hears it, but it's too late; the girl heard it too. She moves forward, heading for the open door, but Michelangelo hears and, knowing where she's most likely to pop-up from, he prepares to fire. As her arm reaches up to grab the rooftop, Michelangelo fires his suction-cup dart, hitting her in the arm.

"Aww, man. Dude, you are _so_ dead!" She calls playfully, letting the arm she got hit in fall limp.

"Haha! Keep talkin'; it'll make you easier to find." Michelangelo laughs, and then notices his brothers as he reloads his gun. "Guys!"

He jumps down from the roof of the carriage and jogs over to greet them, getting shot in back of his left leg with a suction-cup dart.

"Oh maaannn."

"You know the rules; lose the leg." She says, walking towards him as she does so.

"Sure." Michelangelo gets down on one knee. "But how you gonna reload your gun?" He grins, looking over his shoulder and aiming at her with his gun.

"With m--" She was about to say "teeth", but her attention is drawn to the other Turtles now all standing at the foot of the stairs, starring at her.

Michelangelo takes the chance to shoot her in the arm she holds the gun in.

"I win." He smiles, getting-up again. "But I'll spare your life... for now." He winks, sticking his tongue out at her.

She replies by poking her own tongue out back at him, and then turns him around and pushes him towards his brothers as she follows and hides behind him. She wants to meet them, but doesn't feel confident enough to walk up to them alone yet.

"So... er..." Michelangelo doesn't know whether to ask about Casey, or introduce his new friend first.

"I'll fill-you-in about Casey later. He'll be alright though." Donatello informs his little brother, clearly noticing his indecisiveness. "So..."

"This..." Michelangelo begins, pulling her round from behind his shell and planting her right infront of him, facing his brothers. "Is... er..." He remembers she hasn't yet been given a name.

"Nicolosa." Splinter smiles as he names her, then gives a single nod to her to confirm she heard right; she has a name.

The girl's eyes well-up as she becomes over-joyed at finally having a real name of her own. She reaches forward and hugs Splinter, whispering a "thank you" in his ear. Raphael lurches forward to stop her, but Leonardo and Donatello keep him back. As she releases him again, she looks back at Michelangelo, before swinging herself round and flinging herself at him, knocking him over as she hugs him.

"S-sorry." She jumps back-up again quickly, a little embarrassed, but still feeling over-the-moon and clearly finding it hard to contain her new-found joy as she almost hops on the spot. Michelangelo laughs as he gets back up himself and pushes her one step closer to his brothers so they can introduce themselves.

"This, is Leonardo." Splinter begins to introduce the rest of his sons to her. "Donatello. And Raphael."

Nicolosa smiles at each of them, and whilst Leonardo and Donatello reply with friendly smiles of their own, Raphael just stares at her with cold eyes. She doesn't understand why he looks at her the way he does, and it gives her an uneasy feeling. Leonardo nudges Raphael, noticing his hard stare.

"I'll be in the training room." He says, leaving the others.

"Did I do something.. wrong?" Nicolosa asks, lowering her head.

"Don't worry about it." Donatello places a hand on her shoulder. "Raph's... got something on his mind right now."

"Perhaps I should go talk to him." Splinter wonders.

"Mm. I'll come with you." Leonardo nods, and then gives a wave to Nicolosa. "It was nice to finally meet you."

Leonardo and Donatello knew what it was that had Raphael so worked-out, which was why Leonardo had decided to accompany Splinter; so that he could stop Raphael from blowing things out-of-proportion. Donatello stays with Michelangelo and Nicolosa for the time being.

"Is there something I should know about?" Splinter asks Leonardo as they enter the training room.

"Yeah! This!" Raphael bounds over and hands Splinter the piece of paper Casey had given them previously. "She's one of 'them'. She's part of The Foot!"

"And you are sure of this?" Splinter asks, not convinced.

"It's right there in black 'n' white!" Raphael points out.

"I don't think so, Raph." Leonardo contests. "It just doesn't feel right. Why would some _kid_have this information on him. And why would he just 'happen' to drop it right infront of Casey, someone The Foot _know_ we know? There's no way a simple kid could've got this from The Foot. And let's not forget; The Foot beat-up Casey to save that kid _and_ they didn't even try to get this back off him!"

"I hear ya, Leo. But there could be more to it than we know." Raphael thinks some more. "Maybe they weren't savin' the kid. They could've just seen Casey and jumped him _because_ we know 'im. Maybe they didn't know Casey had this information on him. Hey, maybe this, what's happening now, is part of the plan. Maybe they wanna confuse, anger and divide us."

"Or maybe they planted that for us so we'd get rid of her." Donatello buts-in as he enters the room too, approaching Splinter and his brothers. "She's doesn't seem the type t--"

"What!? That's the whole point! She's not _meant_ to seem that way at all! Read it again!" Raphael demands. "She's _supposed_ to come across as all friendly and helpless. This is stupid! She's gonna tell The Foot where we are, and we'll be up to our eyes in an ambush!"

"Guys! Guys! Guys!" Michelangelo calls as he comes running into the room, skidding to a halt infront of them all. "Aww, man! She is _so_ fun! Can I keep her!?" A huge toothy-grin fills-up his face and his blue eyes seem to scream-out "pleeeaaase".

Leonardo and Donatello just laugh at their little brother, as does Splinter, whilst Raphael brings his hand to his face and groans, almost growling.


	11. Chapter 11

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Eleven: Senses**

As the evening draws to a close, it's been a mix of emotions for all concerned. Splinter, who currently sits at the kitchen table, sipping some green tea, had given a name to another mutant, filling him with a sense of fatherly pride all-over-again. Leonardo, who's sitting with Splinter at the table, has spent most of his time keeping an eye on Raphael. Raphael, who's currently sitting on the sofa watching tv at the same time as keeping an eye on Nicolosa, has become more suspicious of her as she continues to befriend his brothers. Donatello is giving Nicolosa a basic health-check, and he's been asking her about her past, but she doesn't seem to remember anything before the night she first escaped from The Foot, and even memories after that seem fuzzy at times. Michelangelo, who's standing with Donatello and Nicolosa, has been enjoying the company of having someone around who's as playful as he is, and can hardly wait until Raphael stops watching tv, so that he can play some video-games with her. Nicolosa, who's sitting on a stall whilst Donatello checks her eyes, has been having fun with Michelangelo most of the time, and been trying to get to know everyone else too. She's feeling more comfortable around everybody now, except Raphael. Every-so-often she feels like he's watching her, and she makes eye-contact with him, usually sending him a small smile. But he never returns it.

"So, why were they holding you anyway?" Donatello asks, regarding The Foot.

"I'm not sure... I don't even know how long I was there for. I just remember waking-up in that place..." Nicolosa tries to remember. "... I remember... it was cold... and there was something... a file!! I remember, they had a file with my number on it."

"Number?" Michelangelo asks.

"Mm." She nods. "I was always referred to as "Number Sixteen". I remember finding this file with my number on it. When I opened the cover, there was a picture of me, and lots of text. But I didn't have time to read it, because they found me. I must've been back there two or three times now to get that file. The last time was the first time I'd actually manage to get hold of it. But they took it back again." She pauses to think some more. "It's strange... there are some things I remember, but there's gaps inbetween..."

"Hmm. I'm not sure yet whether your memory loss is due to something they did to you before, or one of the chemicals they or I put into your blood stream recently." Donatello explains. "I'd suggest writing down anything you can remember, so that if you forget something again; you'll have a reminder. It might also help you piece things together and possibly fill in the gaps later on."

"I hope so... I have this constant feeling that I'm forgetting something, you know?"

"I know what you mean. It happens to everyone. Though I am aware your situation is different. But try not to think about it too much. Sometimes, things come back to us when we least expect it." Donatello smiles. "Sometimes, all it can take is silence. And other times, it can be due to some kind of trigger."

Nicolosa smiles back, feel a little reassured.

"Well, that's it. I think we're all done here." Donatello says, taking Nicolosa's hand and helping her down off the high stall.

Raphael frowns; suspecting Donatello views the girl as more than just a friend. He wasn't even happy with the thought of anyone considering her just a simple friend. He doesn't want anyone becoming attached to her, or used to her being around, incase his suspicions turn-out to be correct.

"Just don't forget to let me know if you feel odd." Donatello cautions Nicolosa. "I'm not 100 sure on the side effects of the anti-sedative, or what the after effects might be from the amount of tranquiller you were dosed with in the first place." He then pauses to think. "Which reminds me..." He then wanders off. "I'll be right back."

"Um... okay."

"So... pizza?" Michelangelo asks Nicolosa.

"Sounds good to me." She gives him a thumbs-up and a big smile.

"Cool! Wait here for a sec and I'll grab the menu for ya." Michelangelo then rushes off upstairs to his room to get the menu pinned to his notice board.

Nicolosa looks over to Raphael, still sitting on the sofa watching tv. She thinks for a moment before beginning to make her way over to him, wanting to find out what his problem is with her, and wanting to try and make things alright between them. But Leonardo catches her attention by clearing his throat, and she looks over to him. He shakes his head, silently advising her not to go near him. She feels disheartened and doesn't know what to do. She doesn't understand why he dislikes her so much. After thinking about it again, she decides against following Leonardo's advice, and begins approaching Raphael again, who notices her out of the corner-of-his-eye.

"I wouldn't." Raphael warns without taking his eyes off the tv, stopping her in her tracks.

Before anyone can say anything else, Michelangelo comes running back with his Checco's Pizzeria menu. He passes it to Nicolosa, taking a glance at Raphael himself, wondering what he'd missed, and then walking into the kitchen area with Nicolosa. She too takes a glance back over at Raphael, before studying the pizza menu as herself and Michelangelo sit at the kitchen table with Splinter and Leonardo.

"Raphael." Splinter calls, standing up and excusing himself. "Come."

Splinter then makes his way towards the training room. Raphael frowns to himself, but then follows.

"Listen, I know your intentions are good, but you should stay away from him." Leonardo advises Nicolosa as he stands-up himself. "At least for a while."

Nicolosa gives a sad nod.

"What's his problem anyway?" Michelangelo asks, being the only brother not to know about the paper Casey had given them.

"Okay, you ready?" Donatello joins them in the kitchen, an empty syringe in his hand.

"Wh-what's that for?" Nicolosa's eyes widen.

"Blood test." He replies.

In the training room, Splinter talks to his angry son, who now kneels before him...

"I understand you have your suspicions, Raphael. But I do not think she wishes to cause us any trouble. I sense from her a high spirit and caring nature. Is it really so hard for you to accept her? Or, at the very least, to play-along with things? If she is what you think she is; then you will have played her at her own game, and perhaps, be one step-ahead as a result. And if she is not; then you would have made yourself a friend, and kept peace in this family."

Though Splinter doesn't believe Nicolosa is a threat to any of them, he believes this may be the only way to stop Raphael acting so coldly towards her. He hopes that, by convincing Raphael to "play" at being friends with her, that he'll eventually find that he really does like her and want to be friends with her, and things will settle down. Splinter believes she is of pure soul.

Raphael takes his time to think about Splinter's words.

Back in the kitchen...

Leonardo leaves the kitchen to go sit on one of the chairs by the sofa, whilst Michelangelo sits beside Nicolosa in the kitchen, trying not to look at the needle. And she has her forehead planted on Michelangelo's shoulder as she tries not to look at, or think about, Donatello sticking a needle in her arm to take blood from her.

"Geez... you're worse than Mikey." He tells her as he finishes, pulling the needle out and replacing it with a cotton-wool ball. "Here, hold that there for a while."

"Phew... oooh, I feel dizzy..." She says after bringing her head back up again.

"It's normal to feel a little dizzy after having blood taken. And you probably stressed yourself a bit too." Donatello tells her as he gets-up and leaves with the sample. "You should probably have something to eat and drink too." He walks over to his table with all his test tubes and-such sitting on it, and calls back to Michelangelo. "Order my usual, okay Mike!?"

"Will do." Michelangelo calls back, then looking back at Nicolosa. "You okay?"

"Sure." She nods, though not really convincing him.

"Hmm. You don't look too good."

"Gee, thanks." She tries to joke, but is clearly feeling more sickly than she's letting-on.

Michelangelo just looks at her, raising a brow.

"Okay, okay." She gives-in. "But I'll be alright... okay?"

"Mmm, you're not a very good liar." He says before getting-up and walking over to the phone.

Raphael returns from the training room and notices Nicolosa looking almost like she's about to pass-out at the kitchen table.

"Er, is she okay?" He asks, catching Leonardo's and Donatello's attention.

"Is that normal, Donnie?" Leonardo asks, edging forward in his seat.

"I dunno..." He answers, taking a few steps forward. "Mikey always feel sick for a while when it comes to needles. Maybe she really is worse than him? And people have been known to faint before, during, and after having blood taken."

"I hope that's all it is." Leonardo comments.

Donatello walks over to the kitchen and pulls a couple of soda cans out of the fridge, offering them to her. She chooses the Pepsi over the Cherry Coke. Donatello then sits down and cracks them both open, pops straws in them and hands her the Pepsi.

"How're you feeling?" He asks before taking a drink of his soda.

"I'll be alright." She gives a weak smile, then takes a drink herself.

"That means you're not alright right now. So, how are you feeling?"

"Kinda hot, but cold at the same time. If that makes any sense? Light-headed... kinda sick... and I'm really tired." She says, laying her left arm on the table and resting her head on it as if it's a pillow.

Donatello stays seated at the kitchen table with her, just to keep an eye on her. She takes another drink through her straw and then gives him a little smile.

"Pizza is on the waaayyy!" Michelangelo chants as he comes back into the kitchen, having ordered their food. "Hey, you okay?" He asks Nicolosa, tilting his head to come into line with her's that still rests on her arm.

"I'll be fine." She smiles. "You guys worry too much."

Michelangelo grabs himself a Pepsi from the fridge and sits with Donatello and Nicolosa at the kitchen table. Raphael sits himself back on the sofa.

"Anything good on?" He asks Leonardo, who's studying the a tv guide.

"A couple of movies are on later." Leonardo answers. "But there's nothing interesting on at the moment."

Splinter, now making his way forward to rejoin his family, is pleased Raphael seems more relaxed now. He hopes things will start to settle-down now.


	12. Chapter 12

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Twelve: Cosy**

"That was goooood!" Michelangelo burps.

"Woh... I don't know if that's impressive or disgusting." Nicolosa laughs.

Everyone has eaten, and eaten well. And Nicolosa is feeling and looking alot brighter than she was earlier on. Empty pizza boxes and soda cans lay across the kitchen table, and the smell of pizza lingers in the air. Splinter excuses himself, feeling quite drowsy and ready for a sleep. He says his goodnights to everyone and then leaves, taking his teacup with him.

As the brothers and Nicolosa sit together at the kitchen table, Leonardo toys with the idea of getting to bed himself. But he wonders if he should stay-up just to keep an eye on Raphael. Though he seemed to be tolerating Nicolosa better now, Leonardo still wasn't convinced Raphael would change his mind about her so easily.

"Who's for ice-cream!?" Michelangelo grins as he stands and heads over to the freezer.

"No, thanks, Mike." Leonardo declines.

Raphael leaves the table silently, making his way over to the tv area.

"Let's see... we got... oh hey, we got cones!" Michelangelo stands-up, holding a selecting of coned ice-creams in his arms and spreading them across the table. "But how do we know what flavours they are when they're all in the same silver wrapper?"

"It's a mini-adventure!" Nicolosa giggles.

"Here. Read." Donatello turns one of the ice-creams and shows them that the flavour in small-print on one side.

"Okay..." Michelangelo starts shuffling through them. "Chocolate, vanilla, mint, lemon, strawberry... I think that's it." He says, checking to make sure he didn't miss any different flavours.

Donatello grabs a mint flavoured one and leaves the table to go sit by the tv. Raphael sits on one of the sofas, so Donatello takes one of the chairs, unwrapping his ice-cream cone as he does so.

"I'm gonna get some sleep." Leonardo says, leaving the table and giving Raphael one last glance before leaving. "Make sure you sleep tonight, Mike!" He calls back.

"Yeah, yeah." Michelangelo then gets back to business. "So, which one?" He asks Nicolosa.

"Hmm... chocolate. Coz it's evening time." She decides, picking one from the table.

"Wha'?"

"Well, vanilla's boring, I don't like mint, and lemon's best when it's a hot, sunny day, strawberry's best when you _wish_ it was a sunny day, and chocolate is best when you're relaxing." Nicolosa smiles.

"Chocolate it is, then." Michelangelo says, then tossing the left-over ice-creams back into the freezer.

"Do we really need _two_ weirdoes around?" Raphael comments from behind the tv guide.

Donatello just shrugs, finding it rather amusing.

"What're the Friday night movies?" He asks Raphael.

Michelangelo and Nicolosa join the other two. Michelangelo sits himself at the other end of the sofa. Nicolosa wasn't really sure where to sit, but Michelangelo catches her attention as he taps the empty part of the sofa in-between himself and Raphael. Nicolosa hesitates for a moment, still unsure of what Raphael thinks of her, but gives-in and sits herself down in the empty spot. Not wanting to risk angering Raphael by invading his space or something, she shifts herself a little closer to Michelangelo.

"Okay, listen and listen good. I'm only gonna say this once." Raphael announces. "Your choice of movies tonight are: Transformers, Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure, and The Punisher."

"Guess we should take a vote." Donatello suggests.

"All for Transformers?" Raphael asks.

Donatello, Michelangelo and Nicolosa raise their arms.

"All for Bill And Ted?"

Michelangelo and Nicolosa raise their arms.

"All for Punisher?"

Raphael, Michelangelo and Nicolosa raise their arms.

"You two have picked every film. You only get one vote this time." Raphael informs them. "Okay, here we go. All in favour of Transformers; raise your hands."

Donatello, Michelangelo and Nicolosa raise their arms again.

"Shoulda known." Raphael says as he changes the channel ready for the movie to start.

"Quit complaining. You like this movie too." Donatello points-out as he gets himself more comfortable in his chair.

"Yeah, but there's not enough action". Raphael replies.

"There's plenty."

"The final battle coulda been alot better, right Mike?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Michelangelo nods.

"There's way too much focus on the human characters." Nicolosa joins in the conversation.

"Yeah, totally." Michelangelo agrees.

"Okay, I'll agree with that point. For a movie about giant transforming robots, you don't see half as much of the robots in comparison to the humans." Donatello adds. "It could've also been edited together better in many places."

"So, why are we watching a movie we're all complaining about?" Raphael sighs.

"Because it still rocks, dude!" Michelangelo answers.

"Totally!!" Nicolosa agrees with a smile.

"Separated at birth, much!?" Raphael says to Donatello, in regards to Michelangelo and Nicolosa.

Donatello shakes his head, laughing. Michelangelo and Nicolosa look at the other two, before looking at other and giving a shrug, both of them clueless.


	13. Chapter 13

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Thirteen: Changes**

Another morning begins, and it's a messy one. Empty ice-cream cone wrappers, soda cans, and potato-chip packets litter the coffee table, and the floor around the sofa. DVD cases are also spread across the table _and_ on the floor near the DVD player.

As for bodies; Donatello's asleep in his chair, with a bowl of popcorn balanced on the arm of the it. Michelangelo, Nicolosa, and Raphael are asleep on the sofa, with Nicolosa leaning against Michelangelo and the pair of them hugging the same sofa cushion. They have actually been playing tug-of-war with it every-now-and-again in their sleep.

Leonardo enters the room, shaking his head at the state of the place as he approaches the tv area. A side of him doesn't mind the mess too much, as it was just a typical family thing, and he loved his family - even if they did drive him nuts sometimes. Or should that be _most_ of the time!? But, his love for "Kodak moments" wasn't going to stop him giving them a good telling-off. As he looks at them all, asleep, in a mess, and unsuspecting; his since of humour (and possibly that love of family moments again) comes into play, and Leonardo just can't help himself; so he creeps away to find a camera.

After borrowing Donatello's camera, which was sat in a draw by his work-station, Leonardo creeps back, now standing back enough to get them all in the picture. And with a bright flash; the picture is taken, and Leonardo chuckles to himself before walking away again to return the camera to it's draw.

However, you can't flash a bright light at someone who's sleeping and expect them not to be woken by it. Raphael frowns after the flash and then lets out a big yawn, his eyes now opening slowly as he wakes-up. He sees Leonardo place something in a draw, but he doesn't really care what it might be.

Donatello also wakes after the flash of the camera. He stretches out his arms and legs, knocking the bowl of popcorn onto the floor as he does so. His reaction's a little slower than usual at the moment, and after hearing the bowl hit the floor, he slowly looks over the edge of the chair, his eyes only half-open.

"Crap." He groans, and proceeds to get-up to clean his mess.

The flash wasn't really enough to wake Michelangelo, but the bowl hitting the floor was enough to make him jump and his eyes shoot open as he sits forward, pulling Nicolosa with him as they both still grip the cushion and she almost falls off the sofa. She'd started to wake since the flash, but was too comfortable and drowsy to bother moving. However, any hopes she had of getting back to sleep are now out-the-window.

"Sorry." Michelangelo apologises as Nicolosa sits up, rubbing her eyes.

"S'ok." She smiles, still drowsy, her eyes only partly open.

She tugs on the cushion, but Michelangelo tugs it back.

"Gimme." Nicolosa says playfully, pulling it again.

"Nope." Michelangelo plays, pulling it back harder.

They tug back and forth a few times, giggling.

"Quit it." Raphael says, his eyes closed again as he tries to get just a few more winks before the inevitable Leonardo-sized lecture he just _knows_ is soon to be on the way.

As for Leonardo; he's now in the kitchen sorting out his breakfast, keeping an eye on Raphael.

Nicolosa decides it's probably best not to annoy Raphael, and stops tugging at the cushion, almost sending Michelangelo flying backwards as he still pulls. She sticks her tongue out at him and he decides to hit her, though lightly, on the head with the cushion. Nicolosa tries to grab the cushion so she can hit him back, but he moves it out of her reach everytime she makes a grab for it.

They try to be as silent as possible, like a couple of kids who've been told off by a parent for fighting, but still continue to taunt eachother whilst trying not to get caught again. But even the sound of their movements grates on Raphael's ears and he gets more and more irritated with their childish behaviour.

"You two are seriously crusin' for a brusin'." He says, his eyes still shut.

Things aren't helped when Donatello decides to join-in, tossing popcorn he'd just picked-up off the floor over Michelangelo and Nicolosa, and accidentally over Raphael too.

"Alright! That's it!" Raphael jumps up out of his seat and snatches the cushion away from Michelangelo.

"Woh, chill-out, dude." Michelangelo says. "We were just having a little fun. You know: "fun"!?"

"Whatever. Look at the state of this place!" Raphael yells.

"Hey! That's _my_ line!" Leonardo calls from the kitchen, annoying Raphael even more.

"Shut it, Leo!" Raphael yells, pointing at him as he does so.

At this point, Nicolosa feels almost petrified by Raphael's temper and violent manner. Lastnight, during the film he seemed so much different. He was chatting and laughing along with everyone; including her. They even had fun together, the four of them, choosing which movies to watch next, and discussing each of them. But now he'd completely switched. She couldn't understand it. They were only messing around. They didn't mean any harm by it.

"Raph, why don't grab some sleep--" Donatello begins, noticing the fearful and confused look in Nicolosa's eyes.

"I was _trying_!" He yells.

"In your_own_room_._" Donatello continued, firm yet calm. "We'll clean this up while you're gone."

Donatello wasn't usually one for raising his voice, but Raphael was really pushing things as far he was concerned. Raphael was easily annoyed, but especially first thing in the morning.

"Whatever." Raphael tosses the cushion onto the table, knocking a couple of the soda cans off as it lands, sliding a little.

Instead of heading to his room to catch-up on some sleep, Raphael heads to the training to vent some of his anger. It wasn't just this morning that was bugging him. He was angry with himself for very almost being suckered into Nicolosa's little "act" lastnight. He had begun to doubt his initial ideas about her, and that angered him. He was so sure before about her being a spy for The Foot. But there was a side of him that thought she really was acting genuine. He asks himself if he could have been wrong about her? But then he remembers he was the first to point out to everyone else that she's _meant_ to come across as genuine. It's all part of her act and all part of how she'll worm her way into their family and then she'll be looking for any chance she gets to sneak away and tell The Foot where they are. And then they'll be in trouble. Big trouble.

Leonardo was still sat at the kitchen table, eating his cereal. He's tempted to follow Raphael and confront him about whatever his problem is this morning, but he decides against it. It would probably just turn into another shouting match between them anyway.

"Don't worry about him." Donatello tells Nicolosa, who just gives him a smile to try and convince him she's okay. "I mean it. He does this kinda thing all the time." He adds as he walks into the kitchen, opens a draw, and pulls out a roll of bin-bags. "Here, Mike. You'll need one of these." He hands Michelangelo one of the rubbish bags as he returns to the mess that is the tv area.

"Man, why haven't you invented some kinda robot that'll do all this for us?" Michelangelo asks as he takes the bag and starts picking-up the ice-cream cone wrappers.

Nicolosa giggles, and Donatello just rolls his eyes and gets to picking-up the rubbish around the chair he was sitting in.

"We could always try singing." Nicolosa giggles, poking her tongue and winking.

"Haha! This isn't a Disney movie." Donatello laughs. "Besides, I don't think we'd attract helpful furry animals with _Mikey's_ singing."

"Heeey." Michelangelo pouts. "You're just jealous coz I know how to rock!" Michelangelo positions himself in "air-guitar" mode.

"Cool! Hehe!!" Nicolosa joins in, also in air-guitar position. "But I bet I can rock harder than you!"

"What...?" Michelangelo gazes at her, but she doesn't really notice as her attention has turned to something else.

"Do you guys have like, a separate bag or something for cans?" Nicolosa asks.

"Oh, yeah." Donatello answers, and points into the kitchen. "It's in there."

As Nicolosa wanders over, her arms full of empty soda cans, Leonardo opens one of the lower cupboards so she can see the box inside labelled "Cans". One of their recycle boxes. She thanks Leonardo before putting the cans in the box and shutting the cupboard door, standing-up again.

"No prob." He then points to the cereal box. "You hungry?"

"Um, thanks. But I don't really eat cereal." She answers with a smile. "Well... except, um, chocolate..." She continues, feeling a little embarrassed.

Leonardo gets-up and looks in the cereal cupboards. No chocolate cereal.

"Michelangelo?" He calls.

Upon hearing his named called in such a way, Michelangelo ducks behind Donatello and his rubbish bag. Any of the brothers using eachother's full-names was usually a bad sign.

"Where is it?" Leonardo asks, already knowing what answer is about to come.

"Where's what?" Michelangelo asks, still hiding.

"The chocolate cereal." Leonardo answers.

"It's gone." Michelangelo says quietly.

"I thought we talked about this..." Leonardo sighs, putting his spoon and now empty bowl into the kitchen sink, then turning around again to face the direction Michelangelo was still hiding in. "You were eating it straight out of the box again, weren't you!?"

"Er... no?" Michelangelo's voice comes from behind the rubbish bag Donatello is now tying-up, having finished collecting all the rubbish now.

Leonardo groans, shaking his head. Nicolosa can't help but giggle, but she tries to stop when Leonardo notices her.

"I'm sorry, dude!" Michelangelo says as Donatello leaves with the rubbish bag, exposing him. "I had no choice!"

"What are you talking about?" Leonardo asks, slightly confused by Michelangelo's last statement.

"There was no milk!"

"Right. Try again."

"There were... no bowls?"

"Again."

"Er..." He glances over to see Nicolosa holding-up a spoon and pointing at it. "No spoons?"

"Michelangelo!" Leonardo then notices Nicolosa, who drops the spoon and tries to look innocent, Leonardo then turns back to Michelangelo who hides behind the chair now.

Twice now Leonardo had used his name in full. Not good. Time to come clean.

"Alright, alright. I was eating them during the night coz I was playing games... all night..."

"And then?" Leonardo asks, already knowing how this story goes.

"...and then I fell asleep and left the box open by accident, and they went all soft and nasty..."

"So you...?"

"I threw them away." Michelangelo confesses from behind the chair.

"I knew it!" Leonardo announces, with Donatello beside him, placing his rubbish bag in the corner, and almost jumping at how loud his brother yells.

"It's okay, it's okay." Nicolosa says to Leonardo, still trying not to giggling infront of him. "I have some at my place."

"That's hardly the point." Leonardo doesn't really want to let this issue drop.

"Hmm, now that you mention it--" Donatello begins, but is interrupted by Michelangelo as he comes bouncing over.

"Cool! Let's go!" Michelangelo pulls Nicolosa by the wrist.

He grabs his shoulder bag as they leave quickly, not wanting to stick around incase he gets into any more trouble with his brothers.


	14. Chapter 14

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Fourteen: Something Strange**

"So, how do we get there?" Michelangelo asks once they're out of the lair.

"Um... I've never had to get there from here before..." Nicolosa realizes.

"Hm. Okay..." Michelangelo thinks for a moment. "Where is it anyways?"

"Um, down here, in the sewer."

"Ha! I knew it! I'm so smart!" He grins. "Do you know what buildings are near it? Shops, restaurants, that kinda thing?"

"There's a few apartment buildings, annnnd..." She stops to think. "Oh, if you can get me to Checco's from here, then I'll know the rest of the way."

"No problem!"

Back at the lair, Donatello has been explaining to Leonardo about how things were the night before.

"Like I said, he was fine with her lastnight. So, it's probably just a case of "morning Raph"." He finishes, sitting down to some breakfast.

"Hm, I hope you're right. But Raph has never been one to change his mind so easily. I think it's best if we keep an eye on things until we're sure." Leonardo warns as he prepares some Green Tea for Splinter.

And just in-time too, as Splinter walks into the kitchen to greet his sons this morning.

"Good morning, boys." He smiles, and then takes a look over his shoulder to the tv area.

Leonardo and Donatello return the gesture. Donatello with a smile, but Leonardo clearly with something on his mind.

"Where are the others?" Splinter asks.

Michelangelo and Nicolosa are nearing their destination. As they come closer to Nicolosa's hide-away, they tread carefully. Nicolosa was always careful on her way back incase any of The Foot had ever followed her without her noticing and found where she stayed. the hall way got darker as many of the lights have been broken. They stand still for a few moments, just listening... ...nothing. Not a sound is heard, other than their own breathing.

"Wait here." Nicolosa tells Michelangelo, going into the darkest part alone.

"Wait!" Michelangelo calls.

"It's okay, I just gotta get the light." She called back.

Michelangelo heard her shuffle about, climb over something, and then trip on something else.

"Are you okay?" He calls.

"I'm okay." She replies, a hint of pain in her voice. "There!" She says, smiling as she flicks on one of the lamps.

She then walks over to the opposite corner and switches on her second lamp. There's a fresh lemon scent to the room as she has some gel-type air-fresheners dotted around, probably in an attempt to cover-up the typical smell of the sewer. A large beige rug covers most of the floor, and a khaki coloured sofa, which is actually a sofabed, sits infront of a medium sized tv, with DVDs, CDs, games and game consoles sitting beside it on the floor. Posters of random things like video-games, mixed colours, and such, are stuck all over the walls. The bulb on the ceiling is broken, and the only light is that of the two lamps. In one corner, there's a pile of plush animals. And in another, there's a small table with sketch pads, comics, manga, pens, pencils, and other such items ontop. A skateboard lays upside-down on the floor.

"Hey, you roll?" He asks, picking it up.

"Um... kinda..." She answers, feeling a little embarrassed. "I'm not very good." She then goes towards the sofa and starts looking around for something.

"Ah, it's easy. I can teach you." Michelangelo offers, but Nicolosa is too distracted looking for something in particular. "It's there." He points.

Nicolosa looks over. He's pointing to the chocolate cereal that's sat in a carrier bag by the first lamp she turned on.

"Oh... I know. I'm just trying to find something." She then goes back to digging around sofa, giving-up quickly and heading to a corner of the room which has the cuddly toys piled-up in it.

"Er, so, is there anything you wan' me to bag?" He asks, putting the skateboard back down, and showing her the empty shoulder bag he brought with him.

"Um..." She looks around. "The cereal, I guess. Oh, and take a look and see if there's any games or DVDs you wanna take."

"Cool." He salutes, kneeling-down to check out the selection of games first. "You want me to grab your memory cards 'n' stuff?"

"Oh, yeah, please." She calls back as she finally finds what she has been looking for; a black shoulder bag.

She picks up a plush rabbit and takes it, and her shoulder bag, over to the sofa, placing them down.

"I've got some space in this bag too." She tells him, looking inside and pushing something that's already in there to one side.

"You draw too?" He asks, now taking a look at the stuff on her table.

"Um, yeah." She rushes over and puts the items from the table into her bag. "But it's sucky." She gives him a nervous grin.

"You okay? You're kinda jumpy."

"Yeah, I just... never showed them to anyone before... my drawing's aren't very good..."

"You're not used to have someone else around, are you?"

Nicolosa's eyes speak volumes to Michelangelo, though he can't understand why. But he can tell he's right, and he can tell it's upset her a little. There's an urge inside of him to ask more about what she can remember, and how life has been for her alone all this time. But he doesn't want to upset her anymore by dragging-up any painful memories.

"Well, I'm here now!" He grins, trying to lighten the mood. "And you don't have to show me anything you don't want to, okay?"

"Mm." Nicolosa smiles and nods. "Maybe I'll show you some other time... maybe."

"Cool. So... wassat?" He points to something furry he can just about see in her bag behind the pads and comics she just shoved in there.

"Nothing!" Nicolosa panics and shuts the bag up quickly.

"It's a pet, isn't it!?" He follows her as she goes back over to the sofa and puts the bag down infront of her. "Come on, I know it! Show me!"

As he stands behind her, she picks-up her plush rabbit again and turns around to show it to him.

"Haha, I _wish_ it was a pet. I love animals." She smiles. "But she's just as good."

"Aww, cute." Michelangelo knows this isn't what he saw in the bag, but to keep from upsetting her again, he decides to play along. "Does she have a name?"

"Atashi..." Nicolosa nods.

"Atashi?"

"Mm." She smiles. "It's--"

"Japanese for "I"... I know." He says, giving her a smile, but secretly wondering if there's more to the naming.

He gazes at her for a moment.

"What?" She asks, feeling a little paranoid that she's either said something stupid or that she's got something on her face or something.

"There's more to you than meets the eye, huh?" He asks, completely sincere.

"Like with you, I guess." Nicolosa looks at him, his mind suddenly going blank as her eyes gaze up into his own.

The bulb in one of the lamps suddenly blows, sending a loud bang into the air, causing them both to jump. Michelangelo turns his head to where the noise came from, the now darker side of the room, whilst Nicolosa just jumps straight forwards and clings to Michelangelo.

"It was just a light." He laughs after the initial shock wears-off.

"Oops." She gives a nervous laugh, feeling completely stupid. "I must've fallen for your charms." She jokes as she lets him go, raising her hand to her forehead in a "distressed princess" pose.

"Oh man..." Michelangelo then realizes what he had actually said a few moments ago, bringing his hand to his face. "Er, I just meant that--"

"It's okay. I know what you meant." She smiles. "You're alot deeper than you let on too."

"So, are we ready to go?" He asks, returning Atashi to her. "Or do you need a few more minutes to recover from my ultimate pick-up line?" He jokes, getting down on one knee in a "charming prince" pose.

Michelangelo then notices something else. "Aw, cool! You play!?" He's found the Guitar Hero controller.

"Hehe, yeah." She smiles as she looks over her shoulder.

Michelangelo then remembers something that seemed to click with him earlier. He takes a moment before deciding how best to go about bringing it up, but decides to wait and leave it for another time afterall.

"I think we're safe to go now." She says, placing Atashi in the bag, being careful not to let Michelangelo see inside this time.

"Wanna roll-it home?" Michelangelo grins as he stands back up again, holding-up the skateboard.

"Urr..."

Back in the lair, Splinter is watching his tv shows. Casey and April arrived a very short while ago too...

"Are you sure you can fix it?" April asks Donatello, as Casey carries a desktop computer tower to Donatello's work table.

Donatello starts unscrewing the side, so he can take a look inside for anything obvious.

"Not a problem." Donatello smiles, instantly noticing what's wrong with it.

"Thanks, man." Casey sighs with relief as it was _his_ fault it got damaged in the first place. "See, I told you it'd be okay." He says to April, but the glare he receives makes it's painfully clear that he's not off-the-hook just yet. "Err... I'm gonna go find the others." Casey heads off to the training room.

"So, any news?" April asks Donatello.

"Plenty." He answers, preparing to fill her in on the long story as he continues fiddling around with the computer's parts.

In the training room...

"Hey guys!" Casey waves as he enters, finding Leonardo and Raphael arguing as usual.

Leonardo stops to greet Casey, but Raphael clearly isn't satisfied.

"I'm not dropping this." He snaps at Leonardo.

"O...kay. What's going on?" Casey asks.

Meanwhile, on their way back to the lair...

"This thing isn't built for two!" Nicolosa squeaks as she clings onto Michelangelo.

The pair of them are on Nicolosa's skateboard!

"Don't worry, it's fine!" Michelangelo calls back to her.

"You're crazy!!"

"Haha! You ain't seen nothing yet! You remember that slope we had to walk-up?" He calls as they approach it. "Well, now we get to go back _down_ it! Wohooo!!"

"Woooooh!!"

One of the wheels begins to buckle as they do down the slope at such high speed and with such a weight on the board.

"Un-oh..." Michelangelo looks down. "This is gonna hurt..."

"Ooh, I don't like pain!"

They're nearing the lair now, and Michelangelo hopes the wheels can hold-out just a little longer. But there's no such luck and the front wheels go, tilting the board forward and scuffing on the floor, causing Michelangelo and Nicolosa to jolt forwards. Just before his foot leaves the board, Michelangelo turns himself, so that he can take most of the force of the inevitable hard-landing on his shell. He pulls Nicolosa into his chest so that he can shield her too. As they hit the ground, they roll across the floor and bang into the lair's hidden door.

The door opens, and everybody else stands there, looking down at Michelangelo and Nicolosa who lay in an untidy heap on the floor.

"Oh man, are you okay?" Michelangelo asks, his head spinning.

"Let's do that again... without the pain." Nicolosa says, just laying where she is for now.


	15. Chapter 15

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Fifthteen: Getting To Know You**

Now that Michelangelo and Nicolosa have sorted themselves out once again, they sit at the kitchen table, with their bags on top of it. Michelangelo begins pulling games and DVDs out of his bag.

"Sorry I broke your board."

"Aw, don't worry about it. It was fun while it lasted." She giggles. "Besides, I'm sure I can get another one."

"I've got a few. You can pick one of those if you want?" He offers.

Splinter then approaches them, but before he can speak, Michelangelo jumps out of his seat.

"Sensei!" Michelangelo then leads him off away from the kitchen and starts talking to him quietly.

Meanwhile, Nicolosa sits alone at the table. She thinks back to earlier on, when Leonardo was giving Michelangelo a scolding over the chocolate cereal incident, and back to the night before when she was having fun watching movies with Michelangelo, Donatello, and even Raphael. She scans the lair, over to the table where Donatello was working on the damaged computer, and a conversation was going on between Leonardo, Raphael, Casey, and April, but Nicolosa wasn't listening, and even if she tried, she probably couldn't hear them properly as they're being pretty quiet. But she's too busy thinking to herself anyways. She notices Leonardo roll his eyes at something Raphael just said, and it made her smile. She looks over to Michelangelo pleading with Splinter about something, and it made her giggle.

"You okay?" Asks Donatello as he approaches her - he'd noticed her looking around, clearly deep in thought too.

"Yeah..." She sighs.

"Riiight..." Donatello sits at the table with her; not convinced. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Nuh-uh."

"What are you thinking?"

"Family..." She replies, quietly, then pausing for a moment. "Donatello..."

"Don." He cuts-in. "Or Donnie. Either is fine. You sound too serious when you say it like that." He smiles, and then realizes she wanted to speak about something seriously. "What's wrong?"

"What's it like... to have a family?" She asks.

"At times; difficult." He answers. "When you have such a mixture of different personalities; anything can happen. It's nice to have so many different view-points and interests, and if we were all into exactly the same things; it'd be boring, and we'd probably get in eachother's way even more than we do already. But sometimes, personalities tend to clash. And it can happen for a variety of different reasons. It can come from something really simple and silly, or something more serious, and arguments can escalate. Tempers can rise... you get the picture. Having a family around can be helpful too though. We have a pretty wide range of knowledge regarding different things, because we're interested in many different things. I mean, we do share _some_ interests, of course. You get what I mean, right?"

Nicolosa nods, listening intently.

"But what's it like...? Hmm... well, there are some things that aren't best explained with words, I guess... you have to feel it." Donatello notices Nicolosa looking a little sadder as she doubts she'll ever understand properly. "But y'know, family means different things to different people. Family can come in all shapes and sizes. Some have big families, some have small families. Some have no blood related family at all. A friend can be just as important, and feel just as close, as any blood relative. I guess that's why they say "friends are the family we choose"." He smiles.

Nicolosa smiles back, feeling alot better about things now.

"I take it, you have no blood relatives?" Donatello asks, wondering if she has none, or just can't remember.

"I don't know..." She answers, feeling down again. "I wish... I wish I could remember... I don't even know who I am..."

She then gets-up and walks away from the kitchen.

"I'm sorry." Donatello tells her as she leaves. "I didn't mean to--"

But she just smiles at him, over her shoulder, tears in her eyes. As she turns away again, she hopes he hasn't noticed how upset she is. It wasn't his fault, afterall. All she wants right now is to be alone to think, but she doesn't know where to go other than outside. But as she goes towards the exit, Raphael spots her and doesn't trust her leaving incase she's sneaking away to go back to The Foot. He rushes up to her and places a hand on her shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asks her, firmly.

"I... don't know. Anywhere." She answers, unsure where she was even planning on going in the first place.

"Hey, what's going on?" Leonardo asks, approaching them both, followed by Casey and April.

"Our little friend was about to disappear." Raphael states.

"Raph, don't!" Donatello calls, also approaching now.

Splinter and Michelangelo also gather, wondering what the fuss is about.

"I was just--" Nicolosa begins, turning around after wiping her eyes, but it's obvious she's upset.

"Raph!" Leonardo yells, assuming it's his fault she's upset.

"What's _wrong_ with you!?" Michelangelo yells at Raphael, also assuming it's his fault.

"No, no--" Nicolosa tries to explain.

"_What_!?" Raphael yells back at his brothers.

"Boys!" Splinter shouts, trying to silence his sons and find-out just what's really going on here.

"It's my fault." Donatello says.

"It's not your fault, either." Nicolosa says. "I just got upset about something."

"Oh, really!?" Raphael folds his arms, waiting to hear more of her "excuse" for leaving.

"Raph, just leave her alone." Donatello tells his brother, knowing what's got her upset and knowing she obviously doesn't want to talk about it.

"Oh no, she's not getting out of this _that_ easily. I wanna hear more of this little excuse." Raphael refuses to drop the matter.

"Raphael!" Splinter taps his stick on the floor as he yells. "Enough. This has gone too far already." He then urges everyone to go back to what they were doing before, giving Nicolosa some space.

Michelangelo stays, but before he can ask Nicolosa what's going on, she leaves to catch-up with Raphael.

"I don't expect you to understand." She calls, but he just rolls his eyes, not even turning to face her. "You guys have been like this for years... and you've always had eachother... you know where you came from..." She then finishes, a sad tone in her voice. "And you've always known... who you were... who you are..."

Raphael turns around, but Nicolosa turns away without seeing him turn to face her finally. And she begins to walk away from him. Everyone else overheard what she had to say too. Raphael doesn't know what to think about her anymore. His head still argues the toss, and he doesn't know what to say anymore either. But he feels like he needs to say something. He doesn't know why. Maybe it's because he feels like everyone else thinks he's a jerk just for being cautious. Or maybe it's because a part of him is being suckered-in to what he thinks is her little act. Maybe it's because a part of him hoped that what he had to say would change her mind about what side she was on and join them instead. Or maybe it's because he really does believe and understand her.

But before he has a chance to say anything, Leonardo approaches her, standing infront of her.

"Listen, I know you wanna find your missing memories... but it really doesn't matter where you came from, or who you were..." He smiles. "It's who you are _now_ that's important."

"Yeah! And c'mon, if you found out you used to be boring, or that you hated pizza, or video-games, or somethin'; would you change who you are now and go back to being like that!?" Michelangelo jests, and she shakes her head, giggling a little. "There, y'see. So who cares!? You're fine just the way you are!!"

"Thanks, guys." She smiles.

She's sure to send a smile Donatello and Splinter's way too, for all that they had done for her too. They smile back, and she looks over to Raphael too, sending him a smile in the hopes he'll return it... but he doesn't.


	16. Chapter 16

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Sixteen: Trouble**

"So, do you have any idea what she is?" April asks Donatello as he finishes screwing the side back onto the computer tower.

"And what happened to her tail?" Casey asks.

"Well, I asked her both those questions, but she doesn't seem to remember." Donatello answers, finally finished with the computer. "There. That should do it."

"Shouldn't we be asking her where The Foot are." Raphael suggests.

"Raph, knock it off." Leonardo calls from the chair by the tv.

"Look, she mentioned some place she kept going back to. There's some file on her or somethin' that she wants to get ahold of. If she remembers the way to this place, then maybe we should go and check it out."

"That's not a bad idea. That file may have some answers." Donatello agrees.

"Alright. But considering you guys didn't get much sleep lastnight, we should leave it 'til tomorrow. We can ask her how to find it tonight, and make some sort of plan. But we leave tomorrow." Leonardo decides.

"Mm, I agree. She's been through enough today anyway." Donatello says, then making his way over to Splinter. "Can I talk with you about something?"

"Of course." Splinter gets-up from the sofa and he and Donatello head away from the others to discuss something between themselves.

Leonardo watches as they talk almost secretly. He wonders what Donatello feels he needs to keep from his brothers. Or maybe it was just something he was trying to keep Raphael alone from hearing. He keeps an eye on the two of them as he wants to have a word with Splinter himself.

Meanwhile, outside the lair, Michelangelo has been showing-off his skateboarding skills to Nicolosa as they wander the sewer. A spare board rests upright against the wall. He finishes with a Heelflip Frontside Boardslide on a rail, landing right infront of Nicolosa, flipping his board up and grabbing it straight after.

"Ta-daaa!"

"That's... pretty impressive."

"Wanna try?"

"Are you crazy!? I can't do any of that!"

"Come ooon. It'll be fun!" Michelangelo puts the board on the floor again.

"More like painful! Skating is fun, but I'm no good at tricks."

"Have you ever tried?"

"Well, no, but--"

"No 'buts'. Get on." He tries to pull her onto the board. "Practise makes perfect 'n' all that."

"Not where I'm concerned. I suck at pretty much everything." She tries to pull herself back.

"Aw, c'mon. I'll grab the other board and I'll show you what to do. I'll start you with something real easy."

"Maybe some other time. Come on, lemme go."

"Nuh-uh." Michelangelo gets behind her and tries to pick her up and put her on the board himself.

"Whoa! I'm heavy, you know!!"

"Crap..." Michelangelo loses his footing as Nicolosa squirms about, struggling to get out of his grip.

He sways to one side, which, unfortunately for them, is the side away from the safety of the wall. It's the side where the only way to go; is down... into a pool of sewer water. And that's exactly where they're going: down! Michelangelo loses it completely and they tumble down towards the pool.

Splashing into the pool, they swim upward to the surface again. Michelangelo is first to the top. He looks around for Nicolosa, but doesn't see her.

"Nik!?" He calls out, but she's defiantly not up yet.

He drives back down to look for her, and sees her further down. _Alot_ further down. It seems she changed her mind about going to the surface and went back down for something. But what? He continues to swim towards her and notices bubbles coming from her direction. She must be losing air. What could be so important that she'd risk drowning for? Michelangelo gets worried that she might actually be stuck, so he hurries on.

As he reaches her, he gets a surprise... she's not stuck, and she has what she was after. In her hands she holds something very familiar; her hair. It's a wig. It must have slipped off when they hit the water, and Nicolosa was trying to find it and avoid Michelangelo whilst she re-attached it. She gets a shock as she notices Michelangelo has seen her like this, and she loses the rest of air out of her mouth. Michelangelo pulls her arm and urges her to follow him to the surface, but she's too busy thinking about her baldness. But this is one time when Michelangelo isn't kidding around and he tugs her harder. Time to act fast; she's not looking too good now as she struggles to stay conscious. It's quite a way up to the surface and she may not make it.

As he makes his way up with her in his arms, Michelangelo tries not to think the worst, but at the same time tries to remember those CPR lessons Donatello had insisted on giving all of them. But even if he did remember any of it before, how was he meant to remember when he was getting himself into such a panic already!?

_"Dammit!!"_ He thinks to himself as he tries to remember.

But there was _one_ thing he suddenly remembers as he looks down at her, still just about conscious. But why _that_!? Of all the things to remember, why _this_!? Michelangelo doesn't have much time to argue with himself as he notices Nicolosa's eyes close completely. He stops swimming and tries to hold her up so that she's level with him. Her eyes open just a tiny bit, but he knows he has to do this or she could die. And there's no coming back from that. Death is serious. He doesn't want her to die. These thoughts, as well as some he tries to ignore, run circles in his head, and before he knows it, he's done it. Or at least, he'd started it. He was passing air from his mouth to her's.

He pulls away, saving some air for himself and beginning, once again, to swim towards the surface. They soon reach it, and not a moment too-soon as they both gasp for air as their heads emerge from the water. Michelangelo keeps one arm around Nicolosa, just incase she falls unconscious or something. She takes a few moments to realize it, but she's lost her hair again. She must have dropped it when she was drifting out of consciousness before.

She looks around to see if it's floating anywhere, but she can't see it, so she looks down, but can't really see properly.

"Don't even think about." Michelangelo tells her.

"But I--"

"You don't need it."

Nicolosa looks up at Michelangelo. As they lock eyes, they both feel a little weird. Neither of them is sure what to say now. Nicolosa is the first to break eye contact as something brushes past her leg and she squeals, grabbing on to Michelangelo with both hands.

"Over there." Michelangelo points to a ladder as he tries not to laugh.

"I can make it." She says, letting him go and swimming off on her own.

They climb up the ladder, and end-up back where they started; by the skateboard. Nicolosa kneels on the floor as she gets her breath back. She takes one last look over the edge to see if she can see her hair anywhere. But she can't.

"Here." Michelangelo says, kneeling down infront of her and taking-off her scarf. "If you're really that worried about it, try this." He puts it over her head and ties it at the back so it'll stay on. "But I don't think you need to worry about it at all."

"Thanks..."

"Come on. Let's go home and get cleaned-up." He says, helping her up as he stands-up himself.

"Yeah, you reek, dude!" She jokes.

"Ha! You don't exactly smell like a bunch of flowers, yourself!" He jokes back, picking up the skateboard.

Nicolosa picks-up the spare as they pass it. Michelangelo jumps on his board and encourages Nicolosa to do the same with her's. She shakes her head, but Michelangelo tries again and this time; she gets on and they board home together.

"What is that _smell_!?" Donatello calls out as Michelangelo and Nicolosa enter the lair.

Nicolosa instantly holds her head, feeling self-conscious eventhough she has her scarf hiding her hairless head.

"Come on. I'll show you where the shower is." Michelangelo says, leading her off.

"What just happened!?" Leonardo wonders, looking at Donatello, who's equally clueless.

"Here. There's a bunch of towels and shower gel 'n' stuff." Michelangelo says as he passes them to Nicolosa. "Luckily, being a big family, we have more than one shower, so I don't have to stand around stinkin' waiting for you to finish with this one." He laughs, giving a wave as he heads-off to the other shower room.

"Mike!" Nicolosa calls, and he turns around again. "... thanks... for... for everything..."

Michelangelo smiles, and before he knows what he's doing; he's heading back over to her and giving her a hug. Nicolosa's eyes grow wide for a few moments as she doesn't really know to do. All thoughts are lost for both of them. Though she's just as confused as her Turtle friend, she relaxes and leans into him. Her eyes slowly close, and there's a warm smile on her face.

And, for some reason, the smell of the sewer water still on their skin seems to almost disappear completely from their senses. Or at least, they don't care about it being there anymore. Right now, neither of them can really think. Each of them tries. Trying to figure-out what's going on. Trying to figure-out what they _should_ be thinking. There must be something... right!? But nothing comes to mind. The only thing they can even comprehend is the feeling of the other close to them.

Unfortunately, these moments of calm, are ruined in a painful way as Nicolosa loses the shower gel through her fingers and it falls right on Michelangelo's left foot. As the pain shoots through his toes, he tenses and tries not to shriek, before sitting on the floor to cradle his injured foot.

"Ow, ow, oww!"

Nicolosa feels instantly guilty, although she can't help but find it kinda funny at the same time. She kneels down and starts apologising over and over.


	17. Chapter 17

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Seventeen: Fans**

Michelangelo is the first to finish showering. He takes one last look over his shoulder as he makes his way back to the main area of the lair. He can hear the sound of the water running from the other shower.

"So?" Raphael is standing right infront of him; waiting.

"Huh?" Michelangelo turns faces him, not really sure what it is Raphael is waiting to hear.

"Where have you been? And what happened?" He asks.

"We went for a roll. And we kinda fell." Michelangelo answers as he walks past Raphael and towards the kitchen so he can get a soda.

"Fell? Fell where?" Raphael pursues the conversation as he follows Michelangelo into the kitchen, placing his hand on the fridge door so his little brother can't open it.

"Oh man, it was nasty!" Michelangelo explains. "We fell in a pool of sewer water!"

"That explains the stench earlier." Donatello comments from the living room area, where he sits reading a book to refresh his memory about building computers from scratch.

"How did you manage that? You've been down here long enough to know your way around, Mike." Leonardo asks, approaching them in the kitchen.

"Uh... it was an accident." Michelangelo answers.

"Did you get in a fight?" Raphael continues to pester his brother for answers.

"What? No!" Michelangelo frowns, knowing Raphael was referring to Nicolosa being a spy again. "Leave her alone, already!"

Michelangelo has already had enough of Raphael's attitude lately. Ignoring the fact his older brother still has his hand against the fridge door, Michelangelo grabs holds of the door handle and yanks it, trying to get the door open. But Raphael always has been stronger than Michelangelo, and it doesn't quite work. The door opens, but not far enough, and Raphael just pushes against it harder, forcing it shut again.

"Raph!" Leonardo scolds.

"Ah, forget it." Michelangelo gives-up easily this time as he just can't be bothered with Raphael right now.

He looks around for the bags he and Nicolosa had left in the kitchen before and, after finding them, picks them up, puts all the CDs, DVDs, and games back inside them, and leaves the kitchen with them.

"Hey! We're not through here!" Raphael calls.

"Raph, will you give it a rest, already!?" Leonardo continues to try and stop things before they escalate.

As he reaches the stairs, Nicolosa comes around the corner, having finished her shower. A towel lays across her head, hiding the fact she has no hair from everyone else. Michelangelo hands her one of the bags, the one that was her's originally, and nods his head towards to stairs, silently asking her to go upstairs with him. Nicolosa nods and goes up after him, much to Raphael's annoyance. As they hear the door close upstairs, Leonardo just folds his arms and shakes his head at Raphael for being the way he was. He takes Michelangelo retiring to his room as a sign Raphael is really pushing things with him. And that's not good. Arguments amongst family usually tend to happen. But this was really taking it's toll and Leonardo is starting to worry about what consequences there could be for Raphael's actions. Donatello, on the other hand, wonders what exactly _is_ going on. He figures either Raphael's really annoyed him, or there's something else.

It's just not like Michelangelo to disappear upto his room during the day. At least not with the door closed. Though Michelangelodoesn't mind being alone sometimes, he's always been the type that likes to socialize, and when he's not with the others downstairs, he usually leaves his door open when he's in his room. He just likes the feelings it gives him. He likes to feel that others are around him, even when they're in different rooms. And he likes others to know that they're welcome to come in anytime.

Up in his room, Michelangelo sits on the chair at his desk after shutting the door. Nicolosa sits on his bed, with her bag in his hand, and Michelangelo places the other bag on his desk, which is still pretty cluttered. Nicolosa looks inside her bag, and then back up at Michelangelo.

"They're in there, right?" He asks.

"Hm? Oh... yeah. But that's not--" She then pauses. "Wait, how did you know?"

"I figured it out a little while ago after, er..." He points to her head briefly.

"Oh..." She still feels a little embarrassed about the whole situation concerning her hairlessness.

She starts to dig around her bag, pulling-out a hairbrush, a small mirror, and a tube of something.

"What's that for?" Michelangelo asks.

"It's kinda glue stuff. It keeps the hair piece on better." Nicolosa explains.

"Oh, I get it. So, what happened?"

"Well, I didn't have any since being here, so I couldn't re-apply it. And you have to or else it just doesn't work as well. I guess that... fall was too much for it." She shudders as she thinks about what they actually fell into.

"Hm. So, do you have different colours 'n' stuff?"

"Sure do!" She smiles, pulling out a bright pink wig from her bag, followed by one similar to the one she had on before, and then a ginger one, a green one, another the similar the one before, but a little darker, and a black one. "I got more, but I couldn't fit them all in the bag."

"Woh! They're pretty cool."

Michelangelo picks one up, the one a little darker from her previous one, inspecting it. Whilst Nicolosa brushes, and then puts some glue around the edges of the one almost exactly matching her previous one, and, using the mirror so she can see what she's doing; puts it on. She gives a final light brushing and starts putting her things back in her bag.

"You wanna try it?" She asks Michelangelo, holding the mirror-up for him to see.

"Nah, I'm fine with my head just the way it is." He smiles. "And you should be too. But it's your choice, and they do look pretty cool."

"Thanks, Mike..."

Back downstairs...

"Are you really just gonna let 'em _stay_ up there - alone!?" Raphael snaps at Leonardo.

Leonardo just walks away, not wanting to continue this argument. He sits on the sofa with Casey and April, neither of whom really know if they should say anything regarding the whole thing. This was a difficult situation and they didn't even know what to make of the mysterious lizard girl themselves. She seems nice, but they haven't really been able to get to know her so far. But they did note that everyone else, apart Raphael, seemed to be getting along with her just fine.

"Leo, I'm talkin' to you!" Raphael continues as he stomps over to him, standing infront of the tv.

"So you're gonna annoy everyone else just to get my attention?" Leonardo shakes his head.

Raphael prepares to yell at his older brother, but there's a sudden crash and a thud from Michelangelo's room. Everyone's head turns and they wonder what it could have been. Raphael, assuming the worst as always, runs off and heads up the stairs. The others follow, and even Splinter is disturbed from his meditation and leaves his room also.

Raphael bursts through Michelangelo's bedroom door, with the others gathering behind him. Michelangelo almost jumps out of his shell when he hears his door bang against the wall where Raphael flung it open with such force. He turns quickly and sees everyone standing there, looking in. Nicolosa is laying in a heap against the big box in the corner, looking-up at everyone else.

Leonardo spies the skateboard on the floor, now right by the door, that he'd had to move out of his way when he first Nicolosa here. It was an accident waiting to happen, and he sighs as he passes Raphael.

"Are you alright?" Leonardo asks, picking-up the skateboard.

"I'm okay." She answers, pushing herself forward to sit upright.

"S-sorry." Michelangelo extends his hand and helps her stand-up again, rubbing the back of neck with his other hand, feeling guilty.

Nicolosa smiles, but before she can speak again, Leonardo gives his little brother a caution.

"This room's a mess!" He begins. "You should really take better care of your stuff, Michelangelo."

"I do!" Michelangelo tries to defend himself. "I know where everything is. And nothing ever, er, usually, gets broken."

"Say what?" Donatello steps in.

At this point Casey and April leave. It's about time they went home anyway. Raphael leaves the room also, after being irritated with what he considered a "false alarm". Splinter waits at the bottom of the stairs for any news on what the noises were.

"You can't seriously have forgotten the hours upon hours I used to have to spend fixing your toys when we were younger!?" Donatello continues. "And you broke the Guitar Hero controller a few weeks back."

"Hey, it's fixed now." Michelangelo shrugs.

"Yeah, by _me_." Donatello reminds him.

"Oh, that reminds me..." Michelangelo shuffles about his desk, picking-up things and looking under them.

Finally, he finds it: a Nightwatcher action figure... with a broken arm.

"I kinda rolled over it with my board a while back." He says, holding it up for Donatello to take.

"No." He refuses.

"Wha'?"

"Cool!" Nicolosa says, having a look.

"You're a Nightwatcher fan!?" Michelangelo almost squeals.

"Uh-huh." Nicolosa nods. "I have a bunch of figures of different things, but only the plain Nightwatcher one. This one's bigger. It came with the bike, right?"

"Yeah!! This is so cool!!" Michelangelo starts to get excited.

Leonardo just slaps his forehead and leaves.

"See, Don!" Michelangelo holds the toy out to Donatello again, but Donatello fails to see his point. "It should be fixed!"

"No. You should learn to fix things for yourself."

"Bu-, we, she likes it too!" He tries again.

"Don't use someone else as an excuse. The answer is no."

"Uh, but, um, how, eh..." Michelangelo puts on his beat begging face. "Please? Please? Please?"

Donatello turns away so as not to be swayed by Michelangelo's expression.

"Aww, come on Don." Nicolosa takes the toy and stands infront of Donatello. "Please?"

"Oh, alright, alright. Give it here." Donatello finally gives-in, rolling his eyes, and taking the broken toy.

"Aw, thanquu!" Nicolosa grins.

"But this is the last time, got it!?" Donatello warns his brother.

"Aw, you love fixing things and you know it!" Michelangelo grins.

Donatello raises a brow, and Michelangelo puts his hands together, silently begging him not to change his mind about fixing his toy. He was right, though. Donatello liked stuff like this usually, but action figures were just too simple and hardly a challenge for him anymore. He sighs and then leaves, letting Michelangelo breathe his own sigh... of relief.

"What the hell is that!?" Raphael asks Donatello as he comes to the bottom of the stairs.

"What's it look like!?" Donatello shows the toy to his older brother.

"I'm a frickin' action figure!?"

"You didn't know?"

"Why would I? I don't go searching for this kind of crap like you two."

"Three."

"What?"

"She's into this kinda stuff too, it seems." Donatello informs him as he makes his way over to his work table. "She's also a Nightwatcher fan."


	18. Chapter 18

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Eighteen: Heroes**

As night comes once again, most of the family are asleep. But, as usual, Michelangelo isn't. He and Nicolosa have been sat in his room for hours discussing the Nightwatcher. And Nicolosa set-up her laptop on Michelangelo's desk and has been showing him information, videos, and various fansites and the like online. Michelangelo can barely contain himself any longer. He'd been waiting until it was late enough that his brothers, especially Raphael, would be asleep...

"Come on!" He jumps-up excitedly and grabs her by the wrist, leading her out of the bedroom.

They race down the steps, and Michelangelo leads Nicolosa into a room filled with mementoes of the Turtles past adventures.

"There..." He says, pushing her further in and over to a particular shelf.

She gasps as she notices that right infront of her sits the Nightwatcher's very own helmet. Nicolosa is amazed. It's something she never thought she'd see with her own eyes, let alone be so close that she could actually touch it. For now though, she keeps her hands off it, eventhough she's dying to hold it right now. She takes in how well kept it is, even if the signs of numerous battles do show with the scratches and scrapes.

Michelangelo can't help but get a little excited again himself. As much as he found Raphael to be bad tempered at times, and eventhough he was finding himself not getting on with him as well as he usually would lately, he was still excited and proud of the fact he could call his older brother the one and only Nightwatcher.

Though he did sometimes get a little upset and annoyed that Raphael had chosen to fight alone when he knew Michelangelo would have loved to come along and get some action himself. It was something Raphael had never explained to his little brother, and he just couldn't understand why.

"Pretty cool, uh?" He smiles as he comes to stand beside her now.

"I can't believe it..."

Michelangelo's smile widens as he feels Nicolosa's emotions himself, and, sensing how amazed and happy she is right now, he feels pretty pleased with himself right now.

"Is it real?" She asks, already knowing the answer, but still finding it hard to believe.

"Of course." He says, picking it up and then offering it to her. "You wanna hold it?"

"Are you sure? I-I don't wanna drop it or anything."

"Baaah, this thing's pretty solid. It's been through alot and it's still in one piece."

"How'd you get it?"

Michelangelo's huge grin returns. But before he say can anything, he's interrupted by the one person he didn't want to get caught by...

"What are you doing?" Raphael asks as he stands in the doorway, arms folded.

"Nothing." Michelangelo's grin becomes nervous and he tries to hide the helmet behind himself.

Raphael just shakes his head at his brother's feeble attempt. He could never work-out if Michelangelo was really that stupid to think that kind of thing would work, or if Michelangelo thought his brothers were stupid enough to be fooled by that kind of thing, or was it just because Michelangelo knew he'd been caught and couldn't think of anything better to try?

The reality was that Michelangelo never really lied about anything. He just liked to play, even when he's in trouble. He only ever tells lies when he knows the others already _know_ the truth. It's just his way of trying to get rid of any tension and get _out_ of whatever trouble he's in. He'd never lie really. He's not even good at keeping secrets, let alone directly and intentionally lying.

Michelangelo pulls the helmet out from behind, glances down at it, and then shoots his brother a toothy grin.

"No." Raphael responds, knowing _exactly_ what his little brother wants.

Nicolosa just looks at Michelangelo, then over to Raphael, then back to Michelangelo, confused at what's going on. Michelangelo grins again, trying harder. Nicolosa looks over at Raphael again.

"No." He repeats.

Nicolosa looks at Michelangelo again, still confused. It's obvious he wants something from Raphael, or something like that. But she has no idea what.

"Aww, c'mon, Raph." Michelangelo walks over to his brother, holding the helmet out to him.

"I mean it, Mike." Raphael warns.

"Nah, ya don't." Michelangelo gives him the helmet. "Hold this."

He then goes back to Nicolosa, stands behind her, and pushes her forward, towards Raphael.

"Meet my brother - the Nightwatcher!" He says.

Nicolosa doesn't quite know what to make or things. She glances over to Michelangelo, who stands beside her again and gives her a nod with a smile. And then she looks at the helmet in Raphael's hands, and up at his face again. Her eyes are wide and full of wonder.

Raphael groans before giving-in.

"Come on." He says, leaving the room.

"Yes!!" Michelangelo punches the air excitedly before grabbing Nicolosa by the wrist again and following Raphael. "Let's go!"

They follow Raphael back to the stairway, where he tells them to wait. But Michelangelo has other ideas and, as Raphael leaves to look for something in his room, he runs off, dragging Nicolosa with him.

"Where are we going?" She asks as she follows him, her wrist still in his grip.

"You'll see!" He replies. "You'll love it!"

After a while, they're forced to stop as they reach a door. Michelangelo pushes on it, but it doesn't budge. He lets go of Nicolosa's wrist and tries pushing the door harder.

"You'll need a key for that door." Raphael informs them as he approaches from behind, dangling a set of keys.

"Why'd you lock it?" Michelangelo frowns a little, his excitement stalled.

"To stop _you_ getting in there." Raphael replies as he passes them and begins to unlock the door.

He pushes the door open to reveal a dark room. As he walks in, he signals the others to do the same. They take a few steps in, but dare not to go any further as they can't see a thing. Raphael finds the light switch on the wall beside him and clicks it on. The room lights-up and reveals it's treasure to Michelangelo, and the unsuspecting Nicolosa.

"Amazing... I can't believe it!" She says, taking a few steps forward to get a better look.

It's the Nightwatcher's very own motorcycle.

She takes a look at the bike, and then back round at Michelangelo, her eyes full of excitement, before looking over to Raphael and remembering what she'd been told just a few moments ago as she turns right the way around to see him.

"You really _are_ the Nightwatcher..." She says in awe.

Raphael, leaning against the wall, gives a nod.

"Wow. I always wanted to meet a real hero!" She smiles and turns back to the bike with her still excited eyes. "The Nightwatcher..."

"Hey, _I-I'm_ a hero too!" Michelangelo steps forwards and flexes to show-off his upper-arm muscles.

Nicolosa turns to face him and giggles at his pose.

"Aww, Mike." She smiles, almost blushing as she thinks of his attempt as being cute rather than heroic.

"It's true." He says, dropping the pose and taking a Superman one instead. "I'm a Hero Turtle!"

He quickly receives a smack around the back of the head from Raphael as he comes forward to join them.

"_Ninja_." He says, correcting his little brother before looking down at Nicolosa. "We all are."

"Yeah, we all fight together. Er... usually." Michelangelo adds, whilst rubbing the back of his head.

"Really!?" Nicolosa gets excited all-over-again. "That's so cool!!" She knew they could fight, as Splinter had explained, but she didn't realise they actually battled bad-guys. "But, if one of you was the Nightwatcher... what about the rest of you?"

"The Nightwatcher was something I did on my own." Raphael explains. "It's a long story." He expects her to drop the matter, but as an avid Nightwatcher fan, she just stares-up at him and waits to hear more. "Err... another time."

"You promise?" She asks, pouting.

Raphael raises a brow before allowing a smile to grow on his face as he shakes his head, almost laughing. She was pretty cute, and pretty funny too. She might not make such a bad little sister, after all.

"Sure." He says, planting a hand on top of her head for a moment.

Michelangelo seizes his chance, whilst Raphael isn't looking, to hop on the bike. But it's not long before Raphael notices.

"Get off." He says, shoving his brother off the seat with force.

Michelangelo lands on the floor with a thud, but decides to try again.

"Aww, c'mon." He pleads, getting back on.

Raphael says nothing this time and just shoves him off again. Nicolosa can't help but giggle at the show, even if she does feel a little concerned about how heavy-handed Raphael is with his brother. And whilst Michelangelo continues to try his luck with Raphael, Nicolosa's focus shifts back to the Nightwatcher's bike. She admires how well-kept it is even after everything it's been through, and it's still somewhat unbelievable that this very bike is in her presence.

"See!" Michelangelo points over to her.

"What?" Raphael asks.

"She wants a ride too!"

"Is there a _reason_ you're all down here?" A voice asks from behind them all - it's Leo, standing in the doorway with his arms firmly folded.


	19. Chapter 19

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Nineteen: Gamers**

"I can't believe you were seriously thinking about taking those two out on that bike!" Leonardo scolds Raphael as he enters the kitchen for some breakfast.

"Gah. Just let it go, will ya!?" Raphael yawns. "You already lectured me lastnight."

"Well maybe I've come to the conclusion that I need to repeat myself seeing as you never listen to what I say the _first_ time!" Leonardo frowns.

"And you really think I'd listen to you the _second_ time?" Raphael raises a brow at his brother as he sits down at the table. "Besides, I thought you _wanted_ me to get along with her?"

"That's _not_ the issue here!" Leonardo continues.

"Where is she anyway?" Raphael asks, diverting the conversation.

"Raphael!!" Leonardo yells.

"Guys, can you keep it down? I can't hear the music over your loud mouths!" Michelangelo calls from over by the tv where he's playing Guitar Hero 3 again.

"Have you had _any_ sleep yet?" Leonardo asks sternly.

"Yep." Michelangelo answers as he lifts his guitar in the air to activate the Star Power.

"Ah-huh." Leonardo isn't convinced.

"Serious, dude! I slept all night... erm, after we watched a few episodes of Death Note."

"Well, _some_ sleep is better than none, I guess." Donatello comments from over at his computer station, then swivelling round in his chair and getting-up. "I'll go check if Nik's alright. I wanna take some bloods from her today anyway."

"Oh man, is she gonna _love_ you!" Michelangelo jokes, not taking his eyes off the screen as he continues to play.

Donatello heads off upstairs to Michelangelo's room, where Nicolosa had been using his bed again. He prepares to knock lightly on the door, but hesitates when he realises there's music coming from inside the room... "Cliffs Of Dover". The same song Michelangelo's playing to downstairs. Very odd. Donatello decides to knock harder than he'd planned to before, so that he could make sure she heard him over the music.

"Yuh-huh?" Her voice calls from behind the door.

"Is it okay to come in?" He asks.

"Sure!"

As Donatello opens to door, he's makes a not-so-shocking discovery. She's playing Guitar Hero 3 too, on Michelangelo's television. Donatello figured they must be playing against eachother for fun, but wondered why she chose to stay up here when they could both play together downstairs.

"You okay?" He asks her, checking out the scores and who's she's playing against at the same time.

"Mhmm." She smiles whilst still playing.

"Have you been up long?"

"Nah, not really. I was gonna come down after this song." She then giggles a little. "I only loaded it up to check my ranking 'n' stuff, but then one of my online friends sent me a message asking for a quick game."

"You play against this guy often?" Donatello smirks, and makes sure the door is still open.

"Uh-huh. When I was back at my place, we used to play pretty much everynight."

"Is he good then?" He asks as he turns-up the volume on the television, trying to get Michelangelo's attention downstairs.

"Haha! You could say that." She laughs. "One of the reasons I like playing him is because he gives me a good challenge. I'm not super good or nothin', but we're pretty well matched on alot of the songs."

"Not easy to predict a winner then, huh?"

"Not usually." Nicolosa giggles and shakes her head.

Michelangelo has begun to notice the music coming from somewhere other than the television _he's_ using to play on. As have his other brothers, who aren't really impressed with the loud music now coming from two angles. As they wonder just what's going on, Splinter also comes to see just what all the noise is about. It isn't long before everyone, bar Michelangelo, realises what's going on. Though they're unaware that Michelangelo is actually oblivious to it.

As the song comes to an end, there's a loud cry of excitement from Michelangelo's room...

"YES!! Wohoo! I win!!"

It was Nicolosa.

Donatello comes out of the room and looks down at Michelangelo with a "Have you figured it out yet?" kind of look on his face.

"Dude! No way!" Michelangelo calls up as he realises just what's been going on. "Pixie!?"

"Punker!?" Nicolosa calls back as she rushes out of the room in surprise. "No way!"

"Duuude!!" Michelangelo yells, pointing at her with a huge smile on his face.

"Duuude!!" Nicolosa yells, pointing back and smiling in return.

"I _knew_ it!" Michelangelo says as he runs to the bottom of the stairs, where she comes down to meet him. "I knew it was your voice! I was gonna say somethin' before, but--"

"What!? Why didn't you!? I've been wondering the same thing, but I just figured I was wrong!" Nicolosa admits.

"Idiots." Raphael jests, shaking his head.

"Oh! Come on! I have this totally awesome idea!" Nicolosa gasps as she remembers something she wanted to show Michelangelo.

"Cool! What is it!?" He asks as he runs up the stairs behind her.

Donatello makes his way back down the stairs and walks towards his workstation, sitting down to work on something that, to anyone other than himself, just looks like a bunch of scrap metal stuck together.

"Why are you planning on taking more blood from her, Donnie?" Leonardo asks as he comes to stand beside his brother. "Do you think there's something wrong with her?"

"I wanna find out what species she is." He answers. "I've done as much research on her physical appearance as I can. Tails aren't always lost by injury. Some lizard breeds are known to "drop" their tails due to stress or upset. Or as a defence mechanism. But alot of those breeds grow their tails back. However, some don't. So that helps me to make a short-list of certain species." He explains.

Leonardo thinks this sounds promising, until his brother continues.

"However." He says. "The loss of her tail could be due to the mutation itself, like her hair. But there's also the possibility that's she's not even a mutant. She could just as easily be some kind of alien species."

"So you have no idea?" Raphael comments from the sofa.

"I have several actually. I'm just hoping that the blood test will help me determine things. However--"

"Why do I hate it when you say that word?" Leonardo sighs, expecting more complicated and/or bad news.

"However... it may not help me to determine between her being neither mutant nor alien. The mutation could have messed with her DNA enough to cloud any signs of what she is, or, used to be. And if she's alien, but has DNA similar to ours, then I won't be able to fully determine if she's even from this planet or not. Let alone what specific species she is."

"So taking blood and doing your tests is basically a waste of time." Raphael comments again.

"No, Raph. If there's even the slightest chance, then it's always worth taking." Leonardo replies.


	20. Chapter 20

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Twenty: Ideas**

"Don, Don, Don, Don, Don!"

Nicolosa runs down the stairs, almost falling down them in her hurry, past Leonardo in the kitchen, and past Raphael as he's on his way to the sofa, towards Donatello who's sitting as his computer, trips-up over herself just before getting to him, and lands clumsily on the cold, hard floor.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!"

"Are you alright?" Donatello asks as he gets out of his chair and helps her up.

"Yeah, I think so." She says, checking herself over for any bumps or bruises, but then suddenly perks-up again. "Oh!! I just had this totally awesome idea!!"

"You seem to be full of those today." Donatello chuckles.

"Huh? Oh!! Yeah, well, that idea was already taken, apparently. Mike thought of it too. But _this_ idea is alllll mine!!" She says, balling her fists and sporting a determined expression.

"Okay, okay. So, what's this idea or your's?" He asks.

"Sit, sit, sit!" She insists, bouncing up and down on her toes and pointing at his computer chair.

"Alright, alright." He sits down, laughing at her actions. "What now?"

"eBay, eBay!"

"Is your record broke or somethin'?" Raphael pokes her lightly in the arm as he comes to see what all the fuss is about.

She just pokes her tongue out at him, with a cheeky smile, before quickly turning back to the screen.

"Hack my account!" She tells Donatello, still grinning.

"Wha'?" Donatello gets confused and swivels his chair around to face her again.

"I tried to get in, but I can't remember my password. I only knew my username because my browser saved it for me." She explains.

"Okay..." Donatello thinks for a moment. "So why don't you just use _my_ account for now? I'm guessing that something's obviously ending soon and you need to bid right away?"

"No, no, no, no, no." She shakes her head.

"Hey, Raph!!" Michelangelo calls from upstairs. "Come 'ere!"

Raphael leaves the confusion that is Nicolosa and goes to see what his brother wants.

"When ever you buy something from eBay, you need an address to have it posted to, right!?" She begins, and Donatello nods. "Sooo, if I can get into my account, I'll be able to find-out whatever address I was using! I might be able to find-out where I came from!"

"Heh, not bad." He smiles, though if he had only known she was into internet stuff earlier then he probably would've thought of this idea himself by now. "Give me your username and leave it to me!"

"Awesome!!" She cheers.

"But I need to get some more bloods from you first."

"Not-so-awesome..."

"Come on, it'll only take a minute. And it might help me find out just what you are."

Though she knows that's a good thing, Nicolosa still doesn't like the idea of being stuck with a needle again, but she lets Donatello do what he has to.

Meanwhile, Michelangelo has been trying to persuade Raphael to him a favour, but Raphael's not sure about it...

"Pleeeaaase, Raph? It'll just be for a couple of hours."

"For the last time, Mike; _no_!"

"Oh, c'mon. It'll be fun!"

Raphael just groans, walking away from his little brother, but of course, Michelangelo follows him and continues his pleading.

"C'mooonnn... it's important."

"If it's that important then why haven't you told me _why_ you want me to do this in the first place!?"

"Uh... well... you might not like it."

"Then you can defiantly forget it!"

"No, wait!"

"Lemme alone, Mikey."

There's that warning tone again.

"Raaaph." Michelangelo whines, following his brother down the stairs.

"Go away."

"I meant, er, that you might not like it right _now_. Erm, but you will!"

The noise grabs the attentions of Donatello and Nicolosa, as Donatello finishes taking the blood samples from Nicolosa. He puts them safely to one side and tries to focus on keeping Nicolosa from falling off his chair as she's feeling very dizzy again.

"Mike!" They hear the warning tone again... a sure sign Raphael's getting well-and-truly fed-up now. But that doesn't stop Michelangelo.

"You _will_!!" He insists, running infront of Raphael and blocking his way.

"Will you just give it a rest!?" Raphael glares at his brother.

Michelangelo just stares back at him, which results in Raphael pushing him to one side and walking past him, going over to the sofa and sitting himself down. Michelangelo leans over the sofa and whines in his brother's ear.

"Pleeeaaase?"

Raphael grabs the television listings magazine from the table, rolls it up, and swings his arm backwards, trying to hit Michelangelo with the magazine.

"Come on, I wouldn't ask unless I _had_ to!" Michelangelo persists after changing sides.

Raphael takes another shot at trying to hit his little brother with the magazine. But he misses again.

"Hahaha! You suck at this!" Michelangelo laughs, annoying Raphael evenmore.

Raphael gets-up and jumps over the sofa, whacking Michelangelo with the magazine, finally.

"Raphael!" Splinter's voice calls from the other side of the room, and he makes a hand gesture signalling for Raphael to come to him.

"No means no!" He tells Michelangelo, pointing the rolled-up magazine at him as he leaves to talk to Splinter.

"You okay?" Donatello asks Nicolosa as she gets off of the chair.

"Yeah." She smiles. "Thanks, Don."


	21. Chapter 21

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Twentyone: The House**

It's a dark night, and, having finally given-in to the ideas of his father and brothers, Raphael takes Nicolosa out on the Nightwatcher's bike, distracting her from the other's little secret surprise they're currently preparing for her. The only light is that of the moon, and the street lamps that actually worked, which was only about half of them.

Raphael had taken the opportunity to wear his Nightwatcher costume, and Nicolosa had been given a helmet too, as well as a long black jacket, that she's wrapped around her to hide her green skin as they were on street-level and would most likely be seen.

Nicolosa can hardly contain herself as excitement and wonder fill her. Excitement that she's actually riding _the_ Nightwatcher's bike, and wonder as she thinks about the adventures he's had fighting crime. She feels overwhelmed at the fact she's met not just one, but a group of heroes all at once. Something she could've only ever dreamed of before. She considers herself to be the luckiest being in the universe right now.

_"Amazing..."_ She thinks to herself.

Raphael, though he'd probably never admit it, is enjoying his time in the spotlight. As they whiz through the streets, his adrenalin starts pumping and he secretly hopes there'll be some action to get involved in tonight. Nicolosa has the same kind of hope as she'd love to see the Nightwatcher in action with her own eyes instead of via a news report on the television.

Just infront of them, Raphael spots a ramp that leads from the floor to a skip. Workers must've been using it during the day to push wheelbarrows up for emptying into the skip. Raphael can't resist. A grin grows on his face as he starts to speed-up, faster and faster, until...

"Wohoo!!" Nicolosa calls out as they shoot up and off the ramp into the air.

They land perfectly back onto the road before turning into another street. Raphael soon feels Nicolosa tugging on him from behind and he comes to a stop.

"You alright?" He asks as he gets off to check on her.

"There..." She says, pointing at a building across the road.

Raphael turns to take a look. It's a small house. It looks dark inside as there don't appear to be any lights on. All the curtains on the lower level are closed, and one of the windows looks like a brick or something has been thrown through it at some point as there's a break in it.

"What?" Raphael asks, turning back to Nicolosa.

"I know this place..." She says, trailing-off.

She gets off the bike and crosses the road, taking her helmet off as she gets closer to the house, wanting to get a clearer look.

"Don't take it _off_!!" Raphael scolds as he follows her.

But she ignores him and steps up to the front door. She leans against it for a moment, trying to listen to see if there _is_ anyone inside. When she hears nothing, she steps back again and looks over the whole building again, from top to bottom. Her focus shifts around as she tries to figure out what it is her head is trying to remind her of.

Raphael steps ups to the door and prepares to attempt to knock it down, but Nicolosa suddenly slinks off.

"This way." She says, going round the side of the building.

Raphael follows her right around to the back of the house, where there's a small garden, and a damaged backdoor. There's another window beside the backdoor, it's curtains are also closed, and the most of the glass is gone. Smashed previously. Nicolosa studies the backdoor. It's window is also smashed, and the lower panel looks like it's unstable and has probably been removed or kick-in at some point. She kneels down and pushes on the panel. It doesn't take much to push it out of it position. With a way inside now, Nicolosa goes to crawl through, but Raphael stops her.

"Get behind me." He tells her, doing in first to check for any dangers.

It's very dark inside as the curtains are a dark colour and don't let in the light from the street lamps very much at all. Raphael listens carefully for any signs that someone else may be in the building. He switches on the small lights on each side of his helmet and steps further inside. He's in a kitchen. He listens some more, but the place seems to be empty, so he calls Nicolosa to come on in.

She crawls in and has to be careful where she walks as there's quite alot of glass on the floor. The light bulb in the kitchen, has been smashed. Cautiously, she follows Raphael through into the living room. The whole place is a mess, and the light bulb in this room has also been smashed.

"Looks like there was a struggle." He says as he looks at the damaged furniture and the marks, that seem to be blade slashes and stabs, on the sofa and wallpaper. "You said you knew this place. Anymore information you wanna share?" He asks, his old suspicions rising a little.

"I've been here before." She answers as she looks all around, hoping something more will come back to her. "I... don't think I lived here... but I have been here. I'm _sure_ I have." She then wandered out of the room and towards the stairs.

Raphael once again urged her to get behind him, and he went-up first, lighting the way as he did so. All was quiet upstairs. No sign of anyone or anything. As they explored a little more, they found each bedroom to be completely empty. It was almost as if the top half of the house had never been used. Whilst there were carpets and wallpaper, there were no beds, no light bulbs, no curtains, no furniture what-so-ever.

Nicolosa began to lose hope. After recognising the house from outside, and remembering about the loose panel in the backdoor, her hopes had begun to rise at more coming back to her. But nothing more had come to mind. Not in the slightest. She let-out a depressing sigh as she looks out of the window of the larger of the two bedrooms. The sky is clouded-over, and the rain begins to fall.

Raphael walks back into the room and sees her standing. Though a part of him feels bad for her coming to a dead-end, he decides it's time to give-up on this place, at least for now, and head back to the others. But just as he's about to speak, noises are heard from downstairs. Nicolosa turns around to face Raphael, who silently signals for her to be quiet and follow him. They tread carefully out of the room and to the top of the stairs, where they wait, and listen.

Something's down there. But it's not making very much noise now. It's just shuffling around, as if it's looking for something. Nicolosa decides she can't wait any longer. She wants to know who's down there and if they can tell her anything about herself. She leaves Raphael's side in a hurry and heads down the staircase, almost falling-over in her rush. Raphael follows her, ordering her to come back as he chases after her. But it's too late. She's in the front room.

As he gets to the doorway, his focus is drawn to the floor, where Nicolosa kneels. There seems to be something in the corner, hidden from Raphael's sight by the sofa. As he walks around to try and get a better view, it becomes clear what was making the noise a few moments ago... a small vixen.

"I think she's hungry." Nicolosa says, then looking up at Raphael.

"Don't even look at me with those eyes!" He says, folding his arms.

"Please, Raph... can I keep her?" She asks.

"No." He answers sharply. "And just what the _hell_ did you think you were doing anyway!?" He yells at her.

"Aw, but she's so cute!" She says, ignoring his yelling. "And she's friendly, see?" She says, stroking the little vixen.

"Nik." He says, for the first time using her name with that very familiar warning tone of his.

"But she might starve."

"She won't starve." Raphael points out that there are small holes in the wall, obviously mouse holes. "And don't change the subject!"

"But she might be homeless." She says.

"Nikki!" He warns again, even firmer this time.

There's a moment of silence...

"I don't know..." She answers quietly, still stroking the vixen. "I thought... I hoped someone might be here who I used to know... I want to know... if I... if I have a family... like you."

"Come on." Raphael says, easing-up. "Let's go." He then leaves the room and heads for the backdoor.

Nicolosa gets-up and starts to leave, but takes one last look back at the vixen.

"Don't even think about it!" Raphael calls back to her.

"Bye..." She says, sadly, but gives a smile to the vixen before finally leaving.

Outside, Nicolosa is reluctant to leave. A sadness fills her eyes as she stands back from the building, holding her bike helmet in her hands, and gazing at the empty house.

"Come on." Raphael says gently, reminding her it's time to go.

Nicolosa gives him a single nod before putting the helmet back on and getting onto the back of his bike. And as they ride away, she watches over her shoulder as the house shrinks out of sight...


	22. Chapter 22

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Twentytwo: Sewer Sweet Sewer**

Raphael and Nicolosa return to the lair, but it seems deserted. Nicolosa heads slowly for the staircase, still feeling down about not being able to find or remember anything more from her past. As she began her way up the steps, she paused for a moment.

"Thanks, Raph." She says, looking over her shoulder and giving a smile before continuing up the stairs.

But it was a smile Raphael could see straight through. He watches her leave with a painful expression on his face. Having doubted her for so long, and even for a few moments when they were inside that house, seeing her like this made him angry with himself for his suspicions. For making her life harder than it had to be. Eventhough she seemed happy enough most of the time, the fact she was missing so much of her memory obviously still ate away at her. He picked-up on what she had said earlier too.

Nicolosa thinks about going to talk to Donatello. But it's late and he's probably asleep. So she proceeds towards Michelangelo's room. She knocks lightly on the door... ... there's no answer. She thinks about just going in regardless, but she stops. She doesn't want to wake him if he's asleep. She walks away from the door and stands where she can see the lower level, looking over the side.

"Looks like it's just you and me, kid." Raphael says as he re-enters after checking to see if Splinter was still awake and one of the lower rooms.

Nicolosa heads back to the stairs and walks down them again, rejoining Raphael.

"You want me to kick Mikey outta the bed for ya?" He asks.

"Mmnm." Nicolosa shakes her head, smiling slightly. "I'll take the sofa tonight."

"Ehh, look, I'm probably not the best at giving advice. But you remember what everyone said before, right?" Raphael tries to help. "About it not being who you _were_ that's important, but who you are right now?"

Nicolosa nods silently. She remembers, and understands, but she could hardly believe Raphael was trying so hard to make her feel better. They had seemed to recently start getting along better, but she had fears that it would be another short-lived thing like before when they had their little movie night with the others. But things seemed different now.

"Thank you." She smiles, then walking over to and sitting on the arm of the sofa. "I just... ... I do feel welcome here... I just... it's not so much about who I used to be... but I'd like to know where I came from... what I am... why I was at that place... and... if I have a family..."

"Of course you do!" Leonardo's voice booms as he enters the lair, carrying a sack.

Raphael and Nicolosa look over to the door as Donatello and Michelangelo also return, also carrying bags.

"Yeah, you've just been kidnapped!" Michelangelo jokes with a grin from ear-to-ear.

"What he means to say is that you're one of us." Donatello smiles.

Nicolosa smiles again, but doesn't really know what to say, or what's with all the bags.

"I thought you guys woulda been done by now." Raphael comments. "We thought you were all asleep."

Done by now? That comment only confuses Nicolosa more so.

"Well, we would have been. But our "sat-nav" wasn't working and got us lost three times on the first trip." Donatello replies, referring to Michelangelo.

"Hey, it ain't _my_ fault all these sewer pipes look the same." Michelangelo tries to defend himself.

"Can we just get this lot upstairs, please?" Leonardo says as he's already half-way up the staircase.

"Need a hand?" Raphael offers.

"Nah, this is the last of it." Donatello answers as he follows Leonardo up the stairs.

"Where have you guys been anyway?" Nicolosa asks, finally managing to get a word in.

"C'mon." Michelangelo says to her, and she and Raphael follow up the stairs.

They follow Michelangelo to the spare room. Leonardo pushes open the door, and they nudge Nicolosa to go see, so she passes them all and stands in the doorway...

The room is full of her belongings. Her sofa bed in against one of the walls, her tv sits opposite, along with her gaming consoles, her posters are up, her rug is on the floor, and her DVDs, CDs, and games are beside her tv.

Nicolosa is speechless.

She gazes in at the room, taking everything in, before spinning right around and looking-up at each of the Turtles, who all wear smiles. Though it takes a few moments for her to realise she's not dreaming, when she does so a huge smile grows on her face and tears creep into her eyes. She still can't speak and she just glances around at each of the brothers, her hands partly covering her mouth as she's filled with so many emotions.

Eventually, she lets it all out in a massive, excited "Aaahhh", lunging forward and glomping Michelangelo without even thinking, and he falls back, hitting the floor, with her landing ontop of him.

Leonardo shakes his head, still smiling. Donatello just laughs. And Raphael folds his arms, also still smiling as they all look down on the clumsy, and untidy pair.

"There is a catch though." Leonardo says, grabbing Nicolosa's attention.

She turns round to face him, looking up at him as she sits on the floor.

"Your training starts tomorrow." He finishes, a smile still present on his face.

"My... training?" She asks, standing-up again slowly, with Michelangelo doing the same.

Leonardo nods.

"I-I get to train with you guys?"

The others all nod too this time.

"I'm gonna be a hero!!" She yells excitedly as she spins round and jumps at Michelangelo again, knocking him to the floor yet again.


	23. Chapter 23

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Twentythree: Band In A Box**

"Woh!" Nicolosa rolls across the floor.

"Ha!" Michelangelo flings another cushion at her and then dives behind one of the chairs.

Nicolosa catches the cushion as she gets up again, and runs around to where she can see him, throwing it right back at him.

The others don't seem to be awake yet. And if they are; they're not down stairs yet. Which, to Nicolosa, feels like a plus, as she's decided to do-away with her fake hair from now on, but she's still nervous about the others seeing as she's not used to it, and feels self-conscious about it. She also feels guilty about not telling the others sooner. So the longer she can go without that particular confrontation, the better. Though, due to the little game Michelangelo and herself have been playing, right now she's completely forgotten about her hairless head all-together.

As the pair continue lobbing cushions through the air, ducking and diving, rolling and jumping, running and hiding, they fail to notice Donatello coming down the stars. He notices Nicolosa's sudden loss of her hair, but he isn't phased by it at all. It made more sense this way, he thought.

Nicolosa skims a cushion across the floor, trying to get Michelangelo's feet, but he jumps out of the way, nearly knocking Donatello over. Thus, they're now aware of his presence. At last. Before he can speak to either of them, the phone starts ringing, so he goes over to answer. Michelangelo and Nicolosa get back to attacking eachother with cushions. Laughing and giggling away again.

Donatello sighs whilst on the phone.

Michelangelo jumps over the sofa and grabs another cushion. One that's obviously been thrown around before as it lies on the floor by the knocked-over stack of DVDs. As he goes to throw it, he gets one from Nicolosa smacking him right in the face.

"Oops. Sorry!" She calls, not meaning to hit him in the face.

"You'll pay for that!" He laughs, throwing two cushions at her at once, hitting her with both.

Nicolosa retaliates by throwing both cushions back at him.

But their fun is interrupted again as Donatello approaches them after ending the phone call, groaning slightly.

"What did you order _this_ time?" He asks, directing his question at Michelangelo, who pauses before flinging another cushion across the room at Nicolosa.

"Case, huh?" Michelangelo guesses who was on the phone before continuing with his initial idea and flings the other cushion at Nicolosa, who returns the favour.

"April, actually." Donatello informs his little brother, who's busy dodging the on-coming cushion. "So? What in the world have you ordered that requires us to pick it up in the van!?"

"What? Oh! You'll love it!" He insists with a toothy grin before returning the cushion Nicolosa just threw at him.

"Yeah, you say that about most things you order needlessly." Donatello says, unconvinced.

"He's right!" Nicolosa speaks-up after hurling another cushion through the air. "It's awesome!!"

Donatello pauses, before giving-up and walking over to his computer station, taking a seat in his chair.

"I'm gonna check-up on these blood test results..." He murmurs to himself.

Nicolosa overhears and her attention turns to Donatello. But she suddenly gets hit in the chest with a cushion.

"Cheat!" She laughs, throwing a cushion back at Michelangelo.

"Opportunist." He corrects as he laughs back, throwing a cushion at her again.

Nicolosa catches the cushion and runs with it towards Michelangelo with a playful roar. She ploughs the cushion into his chest and tries to push him over and wrestle him to the ground. Michelangelo goes with the fall, but uses his shell to rock backwards, which forces Nicolosa to lose balance and lean further forward than she'd planned. Michelangelo uses this motion to push her off of him, sending her over his head, and into a forward roll across the floor.

Donatello hears a crash and looks round to see Nicolosa lying against a bookcase, some of the books fallen to the floor, and ontop of her.

"Take it easy, Mike." He cautions, getting out of his chair and walking towards them both. "She's not a _turtle_."

Michelangelo's playful expression quickly becomes one of worry as he gets-up fast and runs over to Nicolosa.

"Are you alright?" He asks, almost in a panic.

"Yeah." She replies, poking her tongue out and giving a wink. "It takes more than that to slow me down."

She goes to get-up with Michelangelo's help, but winces a little as she'd banged her arm against the bookcase pretty hard just now. Michelangelo makes a fuss of it and starts apologising, but she tells him she'll be alright and not to worry so much. Donatello gets caught in the scene, but eventually remembers what he was doing in the first place.

"I have your test results, by-the-way." He says to Nicolosa.

"You do!?" She says, gazing up at him with unsure eyes.

"Congratulations! You're a mutant." Donatello smiles.

Nicolosa doesn't quite understand. She was expecting that anyway, but she wanted to know more.

"Don?" Michelangelo asks, also confused at how this was breaking news.

"Well, I had also taken into consideration the fact that you might be alien." Donatello explains. "But you're not. Though your DNA was obviously influenced by the mutanagenic process, there's still enough evidence to prove you're a certain breed of gecko; Rhacodactylus Ciliatus. More commonly known as the Crested Gecko."

Michelangelo and Nicolosa listen intently as Donatello continues...

"That particular breed of gecko do _not_ grow their tails back if they lose them. However, you may have lost your tail when your body mutated, so I can't confirm that side of things yet. However, I can confirm that the mutagen you came into contact with was the same as the one we did. Though I haven't yet determined when exactly that was. But I'll be working on that next." Donatello goes to continue, but Nicolosa stops him, shaking her head with a smile. "What?"

"You've done enough, Don. More than enough." She says, giving him a hug. "Thank you."

"Erm, that's okay." He replies as she lets him go. "But you know--"

"It's alright." She interrupts. "I don't need to know."

"Yeah, but... um..." Donatello tries to think of the right words.

"But _you_ need to know, dontcha, Don?" Michelangelo grins, hitting the nail right on the head.

"... yes." Donatello answers, a little embarrassed.

Nicolosa looks at the two of them, confused.

"Unquenchable thirst for knowledge." Michelangelo explains, poking fun at his brother as he quotes him.

"Ooh." Nicolosa understands now.

"Is... that okay?" Donatello asks her.

"Sure." She nods.

"Excellent!" He grins before heading back over to his computer station in a hurry. "I'll sort that address for you first though!" He calls back.

"Oh! I totally forgot to tell you!" She says as she rushes over to Donatello, waving Michelangelo over to join them. "When we were out lastnight, I recognised this house. I'm not sure why... but I knew it somehow. We went in, but--"

"You did _what_!?" Leonardo's voice calls, over-hearing them as he comes down the staircase.

_"Perfect timing..."_ Michelangelo thinks, wincing at the unapproving tone in Leonardo's voice.

"Well, it was empty--" Nicolosa tries to explain.

"How did you _know_ it was empty?" Leonardo asks as he approaches them.

"It was dark inside. And--"

"Don't you _ever_ get tired of moaning!?" Raphael grumbles at Leonardo as he too comes down the stairs and towards the others. "The place was empty. We went in. We found nothing. End of story."

"That's hardly the point, Raph." Leonardo complains. "You should've known better than to have taken her in there! She's not trained for this kind of thing and it could've been a trap!"

"Oh yeah, right, Leo. Someone's really gonna hide-out in that place everynight, hoping that she might just go in there." Raphael argues.

"Well, patience _is_ a virtue." Donatello comments, not really wanting to join the argument, but feeling he needed to get that message across as, afterall, it wasn't an _impossible_ theory.

Raphael shoots him a glare, and Donatello turns his attentions back to Nicolosa.

"I'll get that address and you can check if it's the same place." He says to her, and she gives him a nod.

Nicolosa wanders away, grabbing a cushion from the floor as she leaves.

"Was she always..." Leonardo asks Donatello quietly, referring to Nicolosa's sudden loss of hair.

"Yup." Donatello answers as he swivels his chair round to face his computer again.

"Hmm." Leonardo then walks into the kitchen to make Splinter some Green Tea, and make himself some breakfast.

Michelangelo and Nicolosa go back to their games and start beating eachother with cushions. Raphael begins to head for the kitchen in search of breakfast, but pauses when he notices the mess the other two have made and walks over to them, swiping a cushion from Nicolosa and whacking Michelangelo round the back of head with it.

"Hey, knucklehead, you wanna get this mess cleaned-up before moan-o-matic over there notices?" He says, referring to Leonardo.

"On it!" Michelangelo gives a thumbs up and rushes over to the bookcase, whilst Nicolosa rushes over to the DVDs.

Raphael smiles as they both start tidying with a hint of panic. Outside, he was always the toughest of guys. But inside, it was a different story... well, some of the time. He takes a final look at each of them before heading to the kitchen, taking a bowl and sitting down to some cereal with Leonardo.

"Don't think I didn't notice." Leonardo says, before taking another spoonful of his cereal, smiling a little as he didn't really mind.

A little later that day, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Nicolosa hopped in the van to go pick-up their delivery at Casey and April's place...

"Wohoo!" Michelangelo and Nicolosa cheer as they speed around another corner, the van almost tipping over.

And there's no mistaking it that Michelangelo's at the wheel as they speed over speed humps, bouncing the van, it's passengers, and it's contents in the back, all over the place!

"Mikey, take it easy! You'll damage the suspension... again!" Donatello calls from the back of the van as he bounces around on one of the seats that sit either side of the van.

"Wanna swap!?" Nicolosa asks Donatello as she starts to climb in the back.

Donatello looks confused, but climbs in the front, strapping himself in.

"This is awesome!!" She calls from the back as she bounces around.

"Nik, I put seats and belts in the back for a _reason_!" Donatello just shakes his head at the crazy girl, before looking forward again. "Mike, you're gonna miss the turning; slow down!" He cautions.

"No way, dude!" Michelangelo refuses, wanting to get to his destination as fast as possible. "Hang on!!" He calls out as he makes a hard turn to the right.

The van almost tips again and sends everything in the back hurtling to one side, including Nicolosa. They soon make a screeching stop outside the apartment, sending everything flying forward. Nicolosa lands right in the middle of Michelangelo and Donatello's head-rests.

"You alright?" Donatello asks as he unbuckles his seatbelt.

"Hehe!" Nicolosa just grins at him, giving a thumbs-up.

When they get inside the apartment, there are two boxes waiting for them. A large box, two smaller boxes, and one very thin box. It was obviously too much for Casey to have carried to them on his own, and April's busy today.

"So, what is it?" Donatello asks, checking-out the address label on the biggest box, and the thinnest box.

Casey grabs a knife from the kitchen and quickly runs it down the packing tape of the smaller boxes. Michelangelo and Nicolosa can barely contain themselves as they wait for what they already know is coming. Casey opens the boxes. One contains a stall, and the other contains a mic stand.

He now sets upon opening the big box. As Casey opens the top of the box, it's revealed that there's another box inside. Donatello leans over to see...

The box inside says "Rock Band: Band In A Box (Instruments Edition)". He looks back at the other two, who wear huge grins on their excited faces.


	24. Chapter 24

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Twentyfour: Growing**

Despite the distraction of Rock Band, Nicolosa's training has been going quite well over the past weeks...

Splinter went through the technicalities of the Art Of Ninja with her. Explaining everything that came with such a title. This worked as both part of her training, and as building more of a relationship between herself and Splinter. She got to understand him better and respect him as a teacher, a father figure, and a friend.

Though meditation started off strangely, with Nicolosa either feeling silly, daydreaming about something else, getting bored, being easily distracted, falling asleep, or goofing around with Michelangelo; things eventually became easier. Though there are still many times when she's just not fully focused.

Concentration obviously isn't one of her strong points.

Casey and April also came around more often during their break from work, and they got to know Nicolosa a bit better too. She leant about how they both met the Turtles, and more about the human world too. Casey becomes another gaming partner for her as well.

Hand-to-hand combat didn't start-off too well either. Though she proved herself to be naturally athletic, though quite clumsy, she found it hard to take this kind of training seriously as she saw it as more of a game. Donatello and Michelangelo were particularly worried about taking-on an inexperienced girl such as Nicolosa. They were worried about taking things too far, and had to remind the others that she wasn't like them.

As Nicolosa put it; they were built like tanks.

And as Michelangelo put it; she was built like a plush.

She also couldn't put her all into it as she was too cautious about hurting someone. She doesn't like pain, and she doesn't like inflicting pain on others. Especially her friends. She was too worried that she'd get carried away and hurt someone by accident.

It took several ring-side viewings of the others sparring, and a painfully learned lesson from Raphael, before she really learnt just how serious that she was allowed, and that she needed, to be. But she decided to do things _her_ way. She'd only give as much as she got. If they did something that proved they were being serious; then she would reply in-kind. And thus her hand-to-hand training was able to grow.

Leonardo started to spend more time with her as he continued Splinter's teachings with her, and tried to help her find her own way of meditating successfully. He also explained why meditation is an important part of her training, her spiritual growth, and how it can be a great way to just relax. He also took the time to tell her about his training that took him around the world, the different countries, their varying cultures, the experiences he had, and the lessons he learned.

Weapons training has been a trial and error situation...

She was given basic throwing weapons to start-off with. Simple enough. Just throw them at your target. Her hand-to-eye coordination rivalled their own, with Michelangelo claiming it "must be all that video-gaming". But these weapons had always been used as their secondary. They also run out eventually. She would need something more permanent for longer battles, something better for closer combat.

Raphael began to spend more time with her as well. It started-off as physical training, but progressed into more fun activities as she was constantly bugging him for stories of his adventures as the Nightwatcher. He also took it upon himself to warn her of the dangers that came with being in their family. Such as the frequent Leonardo lectures.

Daggers started-off well. But she kept getting the urge to throw them. Which would have been fine, except she needed something she _wouldn't_ be losing. She also wasn't happy with how incredibly close she would have to get to an opponent to actually use these weapons.

Donatello often found Nicolosa planted on a high stall beside him whenever he was at his computer, or popping-up out of nowhere to look over his shoulder at whatever invention he was fiddling with at the time. She took a great interest in the things he did, and admired his intelligence. Though, being so full of energy and easily distracted meant that she wouldn't always sit still for very long. But he didn't mind. It was cute in a way. And he knew she'd be back when something sparked her interest again.

A mace was ruled-out straight away as everyone, including herself, agreed that she'd probably do more harm than good with it. As was the Kusarigama... though there was a little part of her that wanted to try that.

Michelangelo, who already spent the most time with Nicolosa, went about teaching her some skateboarding tricks, though it was obvious she probably wouldn't match his level. But it was still fun. Training together wasn't really getting them anywhere as they always turned into a game instead of taking things seriously. Throwing eachother around the training room was more of a playful activity than real training. Michelangelo also enjoyed telling her of the adventures he and his brother have had over the years, and Nicolosa enjoyed listening to them just as much. They shared the contents of their comic and manga collections, played basketball together, had movie nights together, played video-games together, and of course; got in plenty of trouble together.

The Tonfa were easy to use, but again, she didn't like the closeness of combat needed to really use these well. But they were a weapon she may come back to.

Nicolosa was happier than she had ever been. Eventhough she found the training difficult at times, she still enjoyed it. She loved her hero-in-training status. But, evenmore, she loved being around her new friends. Her new family. And just as she was getting to know all of them better; they were also getting to know her better too.

Double Kitanas went down well... or at least _she_ did. Right down. As she gave them a swing, the weight of them pulled her over. She also wanted a weapon, or set of weapons, that was different to the others. Still, she would be tested with different ones to see how they felt and how well she used them.

Sais didn't sit well with her either. They were too much like daggers in the way of range, and she couldn't get used to the weight of the top end of them. She'd also decided at this point that she didn't really want to plough any sharp objects into someone if she could help it.

The Bo-Staff seemed a good match for her. It was easy to use and she liked smacking it into things. At this point, she was given a bo-on-bo match against Donatello, which went okay until she gave it an almighty swing and lost her grip of it, sending it flying half-way across the room.

Nunchaku next. She spun and threw these around as though she'd used them before. As though she'd _always_ used them... even if she did smack herself in the chest or let them slip right through her fingers on occasion. Still, she was good with them in practise, and in battle. And though it went against her initial idea of wanting an original weapon of her own, these felt right for her and decided to take them on. At least for now.

Splinter later revealed that it had always been his intention to give her nunchaku as he felt they matched her personality. Splinter also brought forward a bandana of her own. A yellow one. And as she continues her training, she does so wearing her bandana with pride, and without her old scarf, which has been placed in a certain room, with all the other mementoes of the past...

Though she did comment on how "weird" it felt to not have something around her neck anymore. That was when Raphael playfully offered to put his hands around her neck if she really wanted, making a strangling gesture as he walked towards her.

...

After a long day of training and gaming, Nicolosa goes back to her room ready for some sleep. But as she's goes to shut down her laptop which she'd accidentally left on earlier, she finds a small package, tied-up with orange string. It's sat lightly on top the keyboard.

She picks it up carefully, not knowing if what's inside is fragile. She looks it over, curiously, before starting to pull the string, untying the knot easily. As she pulls the string completely free from the little package she holds in her left hand, she places the string on her desk, before beginning to open-up the brown paper to see what's inside.

With a finger and thumb on her right hand, she picks-up the enclosed object. It's a choker. The same colour as her belt, and though she can't really tell just by looking at it; it's hand-made. As she places the brown paper down on her desk, she takes another look at the orange string and smiles warmly.

Running across the hall, she goes to Michelangelo's room to thank him for the gift. She knocks on his door lightly, which is partly open. She looks round and sees him sleeping on his bed in a clumsy heap. She then rushes back to her own room with an idea. She digs around in one of her many pencil cases and grabs a thick, yellow pen. She then grabs a piece of plain paper from her desk and draws a very happy looking smiley face on it, before taking it back to Michelangelo's room and sticking to the inside of his bedroom door, ready for when he wakes-up in the morning.


	25. Chapter 25

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Twentyfive: Choices**

As Michelangelo opens his eyes, he wakes-up to a surprise. A nice surprise, that has him smiling from ear-to-ear...

Without even having to move, he can see the smiley face picture Nicolosa had left him lastnight, stuck on his bedroom door. He knows right away that it's from her. And it obviously means she liked the little present he'd left for her lastnight.

Downstairs, Splinter sits in his quiet room, meditating. Leonardo is in the kitchen eating his usual cereal. Donatello is still at his computer. And Nicolosa is annoying Raphael; bouncing Skittles off of his head as he's tries to watch television. Raphael had found it kind of amusing... for the first minute or so. Now he's starting to get aggravated.

"You really oughtta see someone about that death wish of your's, Nik." He comments with a slight warning in his voice.

"Hey, Mikey! Think fast!" She grins as she tosses a Skittle into the air at Michelangelo as he approaches them.

He catches it in his mouth with ease. As he chews it, an accomplished smile grows on his face as he notices Nicolosa wearing the choker he'd given her.

"I got it!!" Donatello suddenly yells.

Nicolosa jumps-up and runs over. Michelangelo also makes his way over.

"Got what!?" Nicolosa asks, excitedly, wanting to see Donatello's latest accomplishment.

"Here. This is the address registered to it." He says, pointing to the screen whilst he notes it all down on a piece of paper. "And this is the email and the password."

Raphael also comes to join them now, to have a look at the address and confirm if it does or doesn't match the address they were at the other week.

Splinter also enters now, walking towards the kitchen, but looking over and listening to what's being said over at Donatello's computer station.

"It's the same place." Raphael nods as he reads the address off of the screen.

"Why not give the eBay password a go with that email address?" Donatello suggests. "If they don't match, I can always hack the account for you. Maybe you'll have some emails containing some clues to your past. Something from someone you know?"

Nicolosa looks down on the piece of paper handed to her by Donatello. She doesn't know what to think right now. She hadn't thought about emails. And she'd been quite happy to give-up on the past all-together and just accept the here and now for all that it is. But there's still a part of her that wonders if anyone is looking for her. And, it's more than just being curious, more than wanting to get to know her old friends and family again; she doesn't like the feeling that someone out there might be worried about her. Someone might be using their time and energy to look for her. Someone might be feeling as lost and as scared as she once did...

And then there's her new friends. Her new family. What do they all _really_ think about this? They've been so good to her. And she's become so close to them already. Would it hurt them if she continued her search for her past friends and family? Maybe it hurts them already? Maybe she's already making them feel like they aren't good enough for her? She doesn't want to hurt them... any of them...

"Nik...?" Donatello asks, wondering why she's been silent for so long.

Nicolosa says a quiet "thank you" to Donatello, before slowly walking away from them all, and toward the staircase, still staring down at the note. They watch her leave, all looking somewhat concerned in their own way. Except Michelangelo. He wears a painful expression. Deep in thoughts about her new family, she looks over to them again. She locks eyes with Michelangelo before he looks away, breaking the eye contact and trying to hide his expression from her as he looks down. As she turns away again, that image stays with her. His eyes... they were so... full of pain and anguish...

After hearing her make her way up the stairs, Michelangelo's focus shifts to the computer screen. His expression doesn't change as Donatello and Raphael watch him. They both understand what's going on, as do Splinter and Leonardo. It was obvious to them by now just how close Michelangelo and Nicolosa really were.

Even if the two of them were too stupid to realise it themselves, they'd been growing closer and closer everyday.

As the morning goes on, Nicolosa has been in her room for some time. Alone. Her hands resting on her legs as she sits at her laptop with the piece of paper resting on the desk to the left of her computer. She hasn't even attempted a log-in to her old email account yet. Her hesitation comes, not just from her wondering if letting go of the past is actually for the best, but also from the piece of orange string that sits on her desk, to the right of her computer. She didn't want to hurt anyone... especially Michelangelo.

Michelangelo keeps thinking about going to talk to her, but he doesn't know if that'll just make things worse. He doesn't even know why he feels the way he does right now. Well, there is a big part of him that knows full-well why he's being the way he is, but the other part of him just shakes it out of mind... or tries to, at least. And he tries to go about his day as if nothing is wrong, but it doesn't fool anyone.

Though the others try to act as if it's just a normal day, it doesn't feel like it. Far from it. Their youngest brother has never been this down before, and they'd gotten used to the bubblyness of their newest arrival too. It felt like a dark cloud had descended across the entire lair.

Each of his brothers deals with this sudden drop in mood differently. Leonardo takes lead from Splinter, who, though troubled by his son's sudden loss of character, remains calm and collected, feeling that whatever happens will be for the best in the long-run. Raphael, after giving-up on his initial idea of storming his way up the stairs and having a few choice words with Nicolosa, tries to understand what she must be going through, and focuses more now on trying to keep Michelangelo entertained with some basketball, so as to take his mind off it all. Donatello feels guilty about the whole thing. Wondering if he should've just kept his little idea to himself.

A sudden blast of load music comes from Nicolosa's room, Highway Star by Deep Purple, not loud enough to hurt anyone's ears downstairs, but it's plenty loud in her room to be heard this clearly through the closed door!

Michelangelo's attention immediately switches from the basket he just scored, up to Nicolosa's room. As is everyone else's.

"Is she _deaf_!?" Raphael comments, pausing from his game with Michelangelo.

"Master Splinter, what are y--" Leonardo begins to ask as Splinter heads for the stair case.

"I think it's time I had a little word." He answers, calmly, as he makes his way up the stairs.

As Splinter opens the door, the music pours out, revealing just how loud it really is. Nicolosa doesn't notice Splinter at first as she's caught-up in her own "basketball" game of scrunching-up bits of paper from her writing pad and trying to shoot them into her recycling bin. But when she finally _does_ notice him standing at the door, she quickly turns the music off, trying not to damage his sensitive rat ears.

"Sorry..." She says with a nervous smile. "I didn't know you could hear it. I guess I'll have to do a sound test to work-out the maximum this can go before it starts being heard outside the room."

Splinter replies with an amused smile, whilst still standing at the door.

"You were trying to block something out?" He asks, already knowing the answer, and still standing at the door.

"Oh! In, in, come in." She waves her hands in signal for him to enter.

"Thank you." He says as he enters her room.

"You really didn't have to wait for me to say so, you know." She smiles, silently offering him a seat on her desk chair.

"I prefer not to enter where I have not yet been invited." He explains with a warm smile. "It is a personal preference."

"Oh. Well, it's really no bother if you just walk in. If the door's open; all are welcome." She says as she takes a seat on her bed. "But I'll try to remember that." She nods.

"Are you going to answer my previous question?" Splinter asks, and Nicolosa's smile dissolves.

"Sensei... why do you ask a question you already know the answer to?" She asks in return, lower her gaze to her lap, where her hands rest.

"Some would underestimate an old man." He answers with a small smirk.

"I know you better than that." She replies, making eye contact again.

"Hmph." He smiles, pleased. "That you do. When we say things, it can make them all the more real. Which is why we sometimes prefer not to admit certain truths out loud. When you think something, no one else knows about it. So you can choose to ignore or deny that thought ever even existed." He explains. "But when you _say_ something, particularly infront of someone else; there's no going back from that. No denying it. No pretending it does not exist."

Nicolosa breaks eye contact again, still hesitant of speaking of her recent thoughts and she starts to worry all over again as everything re-enters her head.

"Nicolosa." He continues, catching her focus once again. "Whilst the first option may be inviting... easier. This is, in actuality, the harder path. Whilst you may be able to outwardly fool others, the thoughts you deny will return. And the longer you attempt to bury them; the more they will grow and the harder they will be to deal with. Choosing the second option, whilst it seems hard at first, is the path for growth, amongst other things, making it the easier path in the long-run. You face your problems, your fears, head-on. You deal with them and move on as a happier and stronger being." He pauses for a moment. "And when you tell someone else of the walls that block your way; you then have the choice of not climbing them alone."

Michelangelo approaches Nicolosa's room, but he stops in his tracks when he hears her begin to explain things...

"I don't wanna hurt anyone..." She says, looking to Splinter for answers. "I just keep wondering... what if someone's looking for me? When I think back to how I felt... not knowing... feeling lost... I don't want someone to feel even the least bit similar because of me... because I haven't taken the chance I've been given to set their mind at ease. But I... I don't want any of you to feel like you're not good enough for me, or that I'm not grateful for all you've done. I _am_. Moreso than I could probably ever express." She smiles, tears coming to her eyes. "But then I worry... what if I find I have a whole family... waiting for me to come home... it wouldn't be such a big deal if I knew they were close by... but what if they're not... what if... in order to be a part of their lives... I would have to leave here... leave all of you..."

Michelangelo's heart sinks as she speaks out loud the fears that have been plaguing his mind since Donatello first made his suggestion this morning. His worst fear since then, and still right now... losing Nicolosa.

"I feel like whatever I decide to do... I'll just end-up hurting someone. I can't even pretend it'll be fine not to contact them because I don't even know these people, and I won't ever see them, so I won't have to see the hurt I cause... I can't because... because _I'll_ still know... I'll know someone's out there, hurting, and it'll be because of _me_!" She continues. "What should I do...?"

"Nicolosa, I am here to guide you. But I can not make your decisions for you." Splinter answers. "But, know this; no one here will think badly of you, should you do decide to pursue what may lead you to your blood relatives. Your heart is full of kindness and consideration for others. That alone, is something no one can fault you on."

Nicolosa racks her brain for answers. As she searches every inch of her mind, an image sharply appears in her head again... Michelangelo, and the look she last saw on his face, and in his eyes...

"I can't do it!" She cries-out, then taking a few breaths, lowering her head again. "I... I can't..."

Splinter just smiles warmly and offers her comfort in the form a gentle hug.

"Take your time, child." He says as he lets her go again. "Think things through at your own pace and make your decision calmly and carefully. Listen to the silent words your heart speaks." He then goes to leave. "Soon enough, you will make the decision that is right for you."

Michelangelo receives a reassuring smile, and a pat on the shell as Splinter passes him. He doesn't really know what to make of it, but he takes it as a sign that it's okay to go in and talk to her now. So he does...

As he turns into the door frame, he catches Nicolosa wiping away the tears that she had previously not been able to hold back completely. He hesitates, but then knocks lightly on her already open door.

"Since when have you been so formal?" She laughs as she looks up at him, giving a sniffle afterwards.

"Since you became so..." He trails off, not knowing which word to use; serious, upset, lost... they all seemed to fit.

"I'll be alright." She says, trying not to worry him anymore than she already has.

"Hm. Deja vu." He says in reply as he comes to sit with her on the bed.

"Mm?" She gives him a confused look.

"You always say stuff like that when you're not alright." He reminds her.

"And how do you know I'm _not_ alright?"

He raises a brow and gives her a look that says "come on now, it's not exactly hard to tell".

"Okay, okay." She says. "But I'll _be_ alright. Okay?"

"No." He answers, and Nicolosa just stares back at him. "I..." He was about to say that he doesn't like seeing her like this, but he skipped that part and went straight into something else he wanted to say. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? What for?"

"I should've followed you up here before."

"Maybe I needed to be alone..." She says, again, trying to stop him from worrying.

"You needed someone... to talk to... cry to... maybe even scream to?" He says, making her giggle a little, before getting serious again. "You needed someone to be there for you... and support you..."

"Mike--" She goes to speak, but he stops her.

"Nik... please... lemme finish this." He says. "If I don't say this now then I may never say it. And then I'll regret it." He takes a breath before continuing. "I could've been that someone you needed... I was worried about you, but I was too wrapped-up in what was going around in my own head... you've spent all this time worrying about everyone but yourself, and I was--"

"I'm not as selfless as you make me out to be, you know..." She confesses. "I have something I want too... and that's played a major part in messing with my head..."

"I know..." He says, assuming it's about wanting to find her family.

"No..." She replies, looking back at him with sad eyes. "You don't..."

A silence falls between them as they're caught in eachother's gaze. A silence which is short lived as Raphael comes around the corner.

"So, have you made contact yet?" He asks bluntly, giving them both a start.

"No." She answers after a moment, then shifting her eyes back onto Michelangelo. "And I'm not going to."

"Wha'? But--" Michelangelo is shocked at her decision.

Nicolosa stands-up and takes the piece of paper with the email address and password on it from her desk, scrunches it up into a ball, and tosses it into her recycle bin. Michelangelo just sits in a stunned silence.

"Guitar battle?" She offers, smiling.

"Yeah, but I'm using the Rock Band guitar!" He replies playfully after shaking-off his shock.

"Not if I get there first!" She plays, running out of the room.

"You okay?" Raphael asks Michelangelo as he gets up from the bed.

"Yeah. You know me. Nothing keeps me down for long!" He says, wearing his stupid grin.

Raphael isn't really convinced, but he lets it go for now, leaving.

Michelangelo hesitates in following as he takes a look over at the recycle bin and the scrunched-up note that sits at the top of the pile. He tries again to just walk away, but he can't. He may have got the answer the selfish side of him had hoped for, but Michelangelo is anything _but_ selfish, and he can't let things stay as they are. And most of all, he can't bare the thought of Nicolosa regretting her decision and becoming unhappy...

He double checks that no one is watching him, and then he takes the piece of paper out of the bin...


	26. Chapter 26

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Twentysix: Chances**

It's very early morning in the lair, and for some reason, Raphael just can't stay asleep. He's been tossing and turning all night, and has grown aggravated. Giving-up on sleep all-together, he sits-up in his bed and swings his legs over the side, now sitting on the edge. He stretches and rolls his shoulder joints before leaning forward and reaching for some of the fitness magazines on his desk. He picks a particular one, second from the bottom of the pile and gives it a shake above his lap, holding out his other hand, waiting for something to drop. And it does. A single sheet of paper falls from the pages.

He disregards the magazine to one side on his bed, and looks at over the piece of paper. It's the note they had gotten from Casey that night he was attacked. Raphael had kept it just incase his original suspicions were true. But over the past few weeks, he'd forgotten he still had it. Until now. Some sort of feeling had come over him and he had an urge to read it over again. He isn't entirely sure why. He already knows what it says word-for-word, but still...

Still glancing over it, he gets-up and leaves his bedroom. He notices light coming from Leonardo's room. It was normal for Leonardo to be awake before everyone else, but not usually _this_ early. Raphael shrugs it off. It wasn't unheard-of, afterall. Just... unusual.

As he walks down the stairs and into the kitchen, he looks over to see Donatello asleep in one of the chairs, whilst Michelangelo and Nicolosa asleep on the sofa. From the two guitar controllers still plugged into the Xbox 360, and the DVDs that were scattered across the coffee table; it's obvious they spent all night playing Rock Band and watching movies, and probably feel asleep sometime during one of those movies.

After grabbing a glass of water, Raphael walks over to take a closer look. Michelangelo is half-laying across the sofa. Using the arm of the chair and some cushions to keep him partly propped-up. His right leg from his knee downwards, hangs off the sofa, whilst his left leg isn't even on it. Nicolosa lays on the sofa too, closer to the back, and, being shorter than he is, only her feet from about her ankles downwards, hang off of it. Michelangelo's right arm rests on Nicolosa's right shoulder as she rests her head on his plastron, her right hand resting there too.

At first, Raphael shakes his head, with a look on his face that says "I knew it". Then he wonders what Nicolosa can possibly find comfortable about Michelangelo's plastron. That's just weird. He then softens at the scene, before then becoming tempted to yell something really loud and sudden to scare the crap out of them. A nice bit of revenge for all the times Michelangelo had done it to him, or chucked water over him, or thrown something at him, or... well, the list goes on. And on. And on.

"Raph!" Comes a whisper - it's Leonardo, leaning over the side upstairs.

Raphael looks up at him, and quickly hides the piece of paper from Leonardo's view.

"What are you doing?" Leonardo asks quietly as he makes his own way down the stairs, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Nothing!" Raphael replies sharply, but quietly. "Why have you always gotta accuse me of crap!?"

Leonardo eyed the glass of water Raphael still had with him, and he could understand how things looked now, and well, the thought _had_ crossed his mind.

"Anyway. You're up early." He states.

"Yeah. I had trouble sleeping too." Leonardo answers as they make their way to the kitchen. "Maybe I'm just not settling after all that stuff yesterday."

Whilst Leonardo's back is turned, Raphael gives the piece of paper a quick crunch before dropping it in waste basket by the television. He's done with it, and he doesn't want anyone to know he'd kept it for so long as it would only cause un-necessary arguments. But the basket is overflowing as it is, and the paper just rolls onto the floor without Raphael noticing.

"Hmm, things were a bit full-on yesterday." He says as he joins Leonardo at the kitchen table. "You know she threw that information away?"

"I had a suspicion, given Mike's mood seemed to perk-up. Although..." Leonardo thinks for a moment. "He still didn't seem 100 himself. I don't know what it was, but there was just something odd about him."

Raphael points over to Michelangelo and Nicolosa sleeping together on the sofa, suggesting their little brother was obviously hiding _that_ from them.

"Possibly." Leonardo shrugs.

"It's not what you think." Donatello says with a yawn and a stretch as he joins his two brothers. "Nothing's changed."

Raphael raises a brow.

"I've been with them all night. When we were watching movies they sat at opposite ends of the sofa. Heh, she was probably closer to _me_ than Mikey." Donatello explains. "But I do agree that something's a little "off"."

Some time passes, and whilst the others have all since returned to their rooms in hopes of getting a little more sleep, Michelangelo wakes slowly from his slumber. At first, he doesn't find anything to be out-of-the-ordinary as his eyes slowly open and he lets-out a quiet yawn, then looking down at Nicolosa who still rests on his plastron. A smile creeps across his face and he starts to let himself drift back off to sleep again... until his senses finally catch-up with him and his eyes shoot open as he double-takes the sight and readies an apology as he takes his hand off her shoulder in a panic. But, though she stirs a little at his shuffling, she doesn't wake-up.

Michelangelo takes a sigh of relief, before trying to figure-out how he's going to get out from under her without waking her, and thus avoiding any awkwardness. Carefully, he slides himself as upright as he can and pulls the cushions from behind him, bringing them forward and trying to slip them under Nicolosa's head so he can move away completely. As he holds her head-up, on the cushions, he quietly gets off of the sofa and lowers her head down gently.

As he stands back, he doesn't take his eyes off of her. A warm smile grows on his face again, but it soon disappears when he remembers what he plans to do... what he feels he _must_ do. The sad look on Michelangelo's face also disappears now, becoming one of determination, and he leaves the living room, heading for the stairs.

Nicolosa stirs again, flinging the cushions out from under her head, trying to get back the feeling she had against her cheek a few moments ago, but waking soon after she feels the fabric of the sofa instead. She takes a yawn before realising she's on the living room sofa... alone. She pushes herself up with her arms and looks around. No one.

In his room, Michelangelo pushes through piles of paper to find his laptop. He switches it on and grabs the piece of paper that he'd previously hidden. Sitting down at his desk infront of his computer, he takes another look at the details on the paper before attempting to hack into the account and access any emails Nicolosa may have waiting for her... and to reply.


	27. Chapter 27

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Twentyseven: Party**

"I've got _just_ the thing for an after-training party!" Nicolosa smiles as she looks round at Michelangelo from her laptop.

The pair are in her room, having been banned from playing the Rock Band drums downstairs whilst the others were concentrating on other things. And whilst Michelangelo has been taking his turn, Nicolosa has been scouting the internet for something fun for them to do outside of the lair.

"Whattcha found?" Michelangelo asks, without taking his eyes off of the screen.

"A costume party!" She announces, holding-up a couple of "free entry" leaflets she'd just printer-off, tossing one away when she realises they only need one to get in with. "It's perfect! It's local, annnd, we won't be seen! Well... we'll be _seen_, but no one'll think we're anything out-of-the-ordinary."

"Awesome idea!" He replies, finishing his song. "When is it?"

"Tonight!"

"It already _is_ tonight."

"It's in an hour. So we better get ready."

"Right!" Michelangelo turns off the television and the Xbox 360. "Wait... we don't _have_ to get ready if we're going as we are." He notices.

"We've gotta make some changes." She says, thinking as she looks him up and down. "First, we gotta do away with the bandanas, and belts, 'n' stuff. We're going as reptiles, and reptiles don't wear clothes. Not even minimal."

The pair remove all items of clothing and Nicolosa starts shuffling around a box in the corner. She pulls out a couple of her old wigs.

"I thought you got ridda those?" Michelangelo asks, a little confused.

"Nah. You can never tell when they'll come in handy." She says handing him one.

"Um, why exactly?"

"Humans have hair. Well, _most_ humans."

With the pair now kitted-out in wigs, both a very light brown colour, similar to the colour of straw, with Michelangelo's being a little shorter, and slightly darker; they're ready to roll. Just one problem...

"How're we gonna get out?" Nicolosa whispers as they look out of her bedroom door.

Whilst Splinter and Leonardo are already asleep, Raphael and Donatello are still awake. Raphael half-watches the junk on television, whilst Donatello gets on with the hack he'd promised to do for Nicolosa. But with all the training and gaming over the week past, Donatello hadn't had very much time to concentrate on it until now.

"Dude, we're ninja." Michelangelo grins. "Follow me."

The two walk low and quietly as they exit her room and make their way towards the staircase. They creep down it as quiet as they can, before making a faster pace towards the door, and sneaking out of it successfully, closing the door slowly and almost silently behind them.

Raphael grins. He knew they were there all along. They may have been quiet, but their reflections had shown-up on the television.

Out in the sewers, the two escapees make their way quickly along until they find a good spot, a manhole in an alleyway, to climb-up. Michelangelo gives Nicolosa a little help getting out, and then they run across the road and look for the right building. It isn't hard to find. There's a queue at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to a nightclub. The queue is made-up of various different types of animals, fruits, and fairy tale characters. All costumes, of course.

Michelangelo and Nicolosa join the queue, and it isn't too long before they get to the front. After handing their leaflets over and receiving a re-entry stamp on the back of their left hands, they head up the stairs and into the club. It's already busy with people. The music's playing and the light displays are in full-swing. The song in mid-play as they walk is Break The Ice by Britney Spears.

The pair take a good look around, soaking-up their surroundings. It feels great to be out and about, not to mention not to have the worry that someone might freak-out at the sight of them. Nicolosa feels more and more at home in this place and everything excites her as she starts feeling more and more bouncy. The smile on her face express pure wonder, excitement, and happiness. And Michelangelo doesn't feel all that different from her either.

As the song changes to As Long As You Love Me by Backstreet Boys, Nicolosa pulls Michelangelo over to the dance floor, insisting on a dance as she yells out how much she loves this song and starts singing along and she dances. Michelangelo tries to join in, but he can't help but laugh.

"You're into this?" He asks with a chuckle, receiving a poked tongue in reply.

"I like abit of everything." She says afterwards, resting her arms across his shoulders and moving a little closer so she doesn't have to yell over the music so much. "What about you?"

"Mm, the same, I guess. If it sounds good; I like it." He answers.

As the song continues, Nicolosa sings along, almost without realising it, as she gazes around at the lights on the ceiling all around the room. Some of them made circles, some of them made zig-zags, some of them made swirls, some of them made stars, and some of them changed randomly.

Michelangelo, on the other hand, is having a hard time keeping his eyes off of _Nicolosa_. There's just something about her bright eyes, so full of life, her cheeky little smile she pulled whenever she stuck her tongue out at him, even the confused look she's giving him right now... wait...

_"Crap."_ He thinks to himself when he notices she looking right back at him and turns his attention elsewhere before giving her the chance to think he's some kind of weirdo.

He completely misses the blush and nervous smile that came after the originally look of confusion, and Nicolosa starts to feel a little embarrassed. But as the song changes to The Middle by Jimmy Eat World, they both smile at eachother as they both love this song. Michelangelo takes her by the hands and they start dancing around together, just going with whatever comes naturally. The song is bouncy, and they're bouncy to match. With a little bit of air-guitaring during the guitar solo. Followed by more bouncing and singing along.

When the next song, Let Me Think About It by Ida Corr Vs Fedde Le Grand, mixes in, a girl dressed as peacock approaches them and waves at Nicolosa.

"You're back!" She says with a smile.

"I am?" Nicolosa is totally confused, but smiles back anyway.

"I haven't seen you here for a long time. Where ya been? And who's your friend?" She asks with a suggestive wink in Nicolosa's direction.

Nicolosa immediately avoids any eye contact with Michelangelo and blushes as bright a red as her green skin can actually manage.

"Oohh, I get it." The girl nods. "Come over to the dance floor when our songs on and tell me more."

And with that, the girl dances her way further into the dance floor, leaving Nicolosa both embarrassed _and_ confused.

"Our song...?" She wonders as she watches the girl almost disappear from sight in the sea of dancing bodies.

And as one song ends, another comes in. Slam by Pendulum this time.

Michelangelo clears his throat before speaking, also feeling a little awkward a moment ago.

"You know her?" He asks.

"Apparently..." Nicolosa answers, still watching the girl, trying hard to recognise her face.

When Nicolosa turns around to face Michelangelo again, she just shrugs and shakes her head, not having a clue who the girl was. As they stood beside eachother, another person, this time dressed as a panda, gave a wave to Nicolosa.

"You must've been here before..." Michelangelo comments, amazed at how many people are now waving in her direction as they pass or notice her from across the room.

"Yeah... must've." Nicolosa replies, waving back with a nervous look on her face as she doesn't really understand what's going on.

"Nessiiieee!" A masculine voice calls as a guy dressed a crocodile gives Nicolosa an almost bone-breaking hug.

"H-have we met?" Nicolosa asks as he quickly puts her down again and she catches her breath.

"Such a joker!" He laughs. "I've missed you. Where have you been?"

"I, er..." Nicolosa tries to think of something, but nothing comes to mind.

The song switches again to I Love NYC by Andrew W.K., and the peacock girl from earlier rushes over and pulls Nicolosa by the hand towards the center of the dance floor.

"Come on!" She says with a smile, and signal Michelangelo. "You too!"

The whole crowd on the dance floor just po-going as the song really kicks-in. Everyone sings and shouts the words at the top of their lungs, including Michelangelo and Nicolosa as they just decide to get back to having fun and ignore previous complications. The bass pumps through the floor and the dance floor becomes more and more filled as people join for this song.

Downstairs in the queue, Raphael waits impatiently to get in, and he's suddenly approached by a girl looking like a reptile with a long tail and black hair. She links arms with him and leans in to talk to him.

"You got a flyer, right?" She asks.

Raphael isn't impressed.

"C'mon, my printer's broken and you can get two in with that flyer." She points-out, taking the flyer from him quickly.

"Or you could find some other mug." He replies, but it's too late as they're now at the front of the queue.

After handing over the flyer, the girl runs up the stairs, with Raphael following to give her a piece of his mind. But as he wanders in to the club, he loses sight of her in the crowds. Giving-up for no, he goes back to what he'd planned to do in the first place; keep an eye on the two goofballs. He scans the room of jumping and dancing party-goers. He walks around the dance floor crowd and leans-up against a wall, and that's when he sees them. Through a small gaps in the crowd, he watches them as they just let go and enjoy the moment.

Everyone's dancing, air-punching, jumping, head-banging, air-guitaring, everything.

As the song ends and Mysterious Girl by Peter Andre comes in, Michelangelo spots Raphael. He points him out to Nicolosa, who waves at him, and then he goes over to talk to him.

"What, ah, um--" He goes to ask what he's doing here, but at the same time can't think of a good excuse as to why _he's_ here himself.

"Having fun?" Raphael asks, his arms folded, but a warm expression on his face that made Michelangelo feel semi-confident that he wasn't actually in trouble... not right now anyways.

"Yeah, it's awesome!" He replies before looking back over at Nicolosa, who dancing at the same time as talking to the peacock girl. "Does Leo know?" He calls back.

"No." Raphael answers, taking in the fact that Michelangelo didn't even look at him when he asked that; he just watched Nicolosa. "And what the hell are you wearing on your head!?"

"It was Nik's idea to blend-in more."

"Get it off."

"No, dude. It'll look suspicious."

"How can you look suspicious in _this_ room!?"

Michelangelo just laughs, assuring him that he'll take it off when he gets home.

Hardly another word is said between the brother as the song continues, and then changes to I Like The Way by BodyRockers, and eventually into She's So Lovely by Scouting For Girls.

"Don't her batteries ever run-out?" Raphael laughs.

Michelangelo takes a moment to think about something he's had on his mind for a while now, then turning to Raphael with a serious look in his eyes.

"Raph--"

"You can't stand here all night!" Nicolosa suddenly pops infront of them both. "Come on!"

"Na, we better be heading back." Raphael says. "I'm still getting-over the _last_ headache he gave me. I don't need another one."

"Nes!!" A female voice calls-out loudly.

"You again!?" Raphael frowns as he sees the black haired girl running towards them, looking straight at Nicolosa with a relieved expression

As Raphael steps forward to engage in an argument, Nicolosa eyes the girl, slightly recognising her.

"Wait!" She calls to Raphael before stepping forward herself and making eye contact with the girl. "I know you..."

"Of course you do! It's me; Mona!" She says, but Nicolosa just looks at her with confused eyes as she tries to figure out how she knows this person.

"Nessie?" Mona's expression becomes one of worry as she fears the worst. "You... do remember me, right?"

"Nessie?" Raphael asks, confused for a moment, but then realises that there's always been a strong possibility that Nicolosa may have had a different name at some point.

As Mona becomes more and more worried at the obvious truth, Raphael asks an important question...

"How exactly do you know her?"

"... I'm... her sister."


	28. Chapter 28

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Twentyeight: Sisters**

After confirming that Mona too is a mutant, Raphael agrees to let her follow them back to the lair so they can discuss her claims. He walks up-front, leading the way through the sewers, with Mona not too far behind, followed then by Michelangelo. But Nicolosa trails behind a little, her head overflowing with thoughts and questions.

Michelangelo slows-down so he can walk with Nicolosa and attempt to find out what's wrong. He thought she'd be happy to finally meet a member of her family. But instead she's been unusually quiet ever since leaving the club. She'd been particularly clingy towards him until they started walking through the sewers, and she started slowing-down.

"You alright?" He asks her.

After a short pause, she gently shakes her head.

"Why not?"

"I don't know... I--"

"Hurry-up you two!" Raphael's voice calls from up ahead.

"Is this a bad time?" Mona asks Raphael.

"It's complicated." Raphael answers.

Mona takes a glance back at Michelangelo and Nicolosa, before facing forward at Raphael again. There's a silence again before Mona makes another attempt at conversation.

"How come he has hair and you don't?"

"He doesn't."

"Are we there yet!?" Michelangelo calls from behind.

Raphael shoots him a glare for a few moments, causing Nicolosa to giggle. Michelangelo smiles; mission accomplished.

After a short while, they're home. Everyone else is still asleep.

"Amazing..." Mona takes-in her surroundings.

"Take that thing off ya head." Raphael groans as he turns around and notices Michelangelo still has the wig on.

Michelangelo had forgotten about it himself, but Nicolosa stops him from pulling it off.

"You'll need to wash the glue off or you'll end-up with a ring around your head." She laughs, leading him to the wash room.

Raphael shakes his head and goes to sit at the kitchen table, followed by Mona.

"So... you guys live here?" She asks, trying yet again to make conversation.

"Yep."

"You been here a while?"

"Yep."

"Is it just you and, um..."

"Mike."

"Yeah, Mike. Is it just you guys?"

"Nope."

"Oh. So, who else...?"

"Two other brothers, and our father. And then there's Nik."

"Nik... hmm... who named her that anyway?"

Raphael just groans at the thought that every answer he gives her only leads to yet more questions.

Outside the wash room, now minus their fake hair, the other two are rubbing their heads dry with towels. Michelangelo catches Nicolosa glancing over to the hallway which leads back to the main area.

"Nik..." He says after a small sigh. "There's s-something I gotta tell you..."

Nicolosa faces him again and waits for him to speak.

"You know that piece of paper Don gave you?"

Nicolosa gives a nod.

"Well... you know how you kinda threw it away..." He continues, rubbing the back of his head as a worried look appears on his face. "Well, I, er... picked it up."

"What? Why?" Nicolosa asks as her eyes widen as she's shocked to hear this.

"I, um, the truth is, well,--"

"I thought..." Nicolosa becomes sad as she gets the wrong idea.

"What...?"

"I thought we... were friends..." She says, wishing she could've used a different word.

"We are..." He confirms, then kicking himself mentally for not saying something else, something more.

"But... you wanna get rid of me..."

"What!? No!! Why would I wanna do that!?" Michelangelo shakes his head with a smile and opens his arms, giving her a tight hug as she steps into them. "Baka. Sometimes I wonder what planet you're on."

Back in the kitchen...

"Hmm. You're not big on conversation, are you?" She says, raising a brow.

"You're not big on first impressions."

"Hm? Wait, you're not still mad about that flyer thing?"

Raphael doesn't answer.

"I _had_ to get in there!" She explains. "I've been going there every week hoping to find Nes in there! We used to go every week for their costume party." Mona pauses when she sees the other two return. "Why have you taken your hair off?" She asks Nicolosa.

"Why not?" Nicolosa answers, feeling a little embarrassed at the question.

"And where's your scarf?" Mona asks.

Nicolosa pauses for a moment.

"I... I don't wear it anymore." She answers, she then realises something. "Wait, did you say you'd been going to that club every week to look for me?"

"That's right." Mona confirms with a nod.

"So... you didn't...?" Nicolosa looks at Michelangelo.

"No, the password didn't work." Michelangelo shakes his head.

Mona becomes utterly confused with the current conversation, whilst Raphael suddenly realises what's happened.

"I _knew_ it!" He says, standing from his chair and pointing at Michelangelo. "I _knew_ you were hiding something!" His focus then turns to Nicolosa. "You knew about this?"

"Not until a few seconds ago." She answers.

"Time out!" Mona calls. "What the hell's going on?"

Raphael pauses before attempting to put it all into words, working out the exact sequence of events.

"Okay. Don--"

"Don?" Mona interrupts.

"Our brother. Save your questions 'til the end, please." He says with a slightly aggressive tone. "Don hacked her eBay account to find some address of some place and--"

"The house you used to have all your stuff delivered to?" Mona interrupts again.

Raphael growls.

"Mike, go get my duct tape." He says as he shoots Mona a glare.

"I'm not getting involved, dude." Michelangelo laughs, with Nicolosa giggling beside him.

Mona holds her hands up in signal for him to continue with no further interruptions.

"He gave her the email address and password registered with the eBay account and suggested she try the two together to see if she could get into her old email account and check if she had any mail from anyone who might be looking for her." He continues. "But she threw the information away."

Mona suddenly looks over to Nicolosa with a horrified and hurt expression. She can't understand why Nicolosa would do something like that.

"But it seems Mike here retrieved it without Nik knowing and used it himself, am I right?" Raphael asks Michelangelo, who gives a nod. "And he obviously got in contact with you and told you they'd be at that club."

Michelangelo and Mona both shake their heads.

"Like I said; the password didn't work." Michelangelo confirms his earlier statement.

"Hold on. If it didn't work, then you couldn't have done anything. Which means you were in no danger of being found-out. So why confess?" Raphael asks.

"Raph!" Nicolosa protests, annoyed that he'd condone lying.

"I--" Michelangelo goes to answer, but Mona cuts-in.

"Why would you do something behind her back in the first place!?" She demands.

"He was obviously trying to help her!" Raphael argues. "It was for her own good!"

"And you guys know what's best for her now, do you!?" Mona argues back, also standing-up now.

Nicolosa grips Michelangelo's arm, becoming nervous as she dislikes arguments even more than Michelangelo does.

"Yeah, maybe we do!" Raphael continues yelling.

"You think _lying_ to her is what she needed!?"

"I think a _push_ in the right direction is what she needed!"

"What is that supposed to mean!?"

"She'd been thinking about her family for ages. Wondering if she was part of any family at all. Wondering if you might be looking for her--"

"If that's true then why did she throw the chance away!?" Mona yells, feeling hurt.

"What going on down here!?" Donatello's voice calls as he approaches everyone, becoming instantly confused when he spots Mona.

"What's all the yelling about!?" Leonardo soon follows. "You'll wake Master Splin--." He stops short of finishing his sentence as he notices the unfamiliar face scowling at Raphael, who's replying with a growl through gritted teeth.

Splinter soon joined them, also being woken from all the shouting. And after some lengthy calming down, and some explaining of how Mona came to be in the lair, the next question finally comes...

"So, how did you guys get separated?" Leonardo asks.

"The Foot took her." Mona answers with a defeated look on her face.

"But what would they want with a mutant?" Donatello wonders.

"It wasn't just her." Mona sighs.

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Splinter suggests.

"Alright..." She nods. "At first, none of us knew where we were or how we got there. We could remember pretty much everything else except those details. Except for Ness. She could hardly remember a thing from before she woke-up in that place. I guess she's just more sensitive to the drugs they were using. At first, we were all kept as what I guess you could call "free range". We each had our own little bedroom, and we were allowed to wonder pretty much anywhere we liked. Anywhere but one particular room. No one was allowed in there. Anyway, they explained to all of us that the outside world was dangerous and the humans feared us and would kill us on sight. They claimed to save as many of us as they could, and they began training us to fight. Ditzy here took it a chance to play "hero", and didn't really think of the complications. But some of us started to wonder just what was going on. We believed them for the most part, but I suppose it was only natural to be suspicious." Mona pauses for a moment. "Shortly after that, Ness did what she does best; goof off. She decided to go on her own "secret mission" into the room none of us were supposed to go in. I admit I'd had thoughts about getting in there, and it was the source of most of my suspicions, so I followed her and went along with her game. We climbed through air-vents and eventually got into the room. We found a whole stack of paper work, folders filled with information on us and the others. Anyway... it wasn't long before we were caught being in there; by humans. We were lead to believe that only mutants were at this underground facility, but it turned-out that it was The Foot running things all along. We were lucky enough to get out of there alive that time. But The Foot must have followed us at one point or another, because they eventually took Ness again..." She pauses, becoming sad again. "I should've been there... but I wasn't... they took her from the house... and I never saw her again..."

A silence falls as everyone takes in this new information.

"So, lemme get this straight; you're saying there's a big bunch of mutants hidden under New York?" Raphael asks Mona. "And you expect us to believe that!?"

"I don't care _what_ you believe." Mona answers. "I was there."

"What about those others?" Michelangelo asks. "What happened to them?"

"We couldn't get word to them. We had to escape using a different route." Mona answers, trying to avoid eye contact with Nicolosa.

"We have to go back." Nicolosa says. "We have to help them."

"No, Ness, you know you can't." Mona tells her.

"We can't just _leave_ 'em there!" Nicolosa demands.

"I knew this would happen..." Mona groans, before standing-up and facing Nicolosa. "We've had this conversation before! It's a suicide mission! You'll never make it _in_ there, let alone out again!"

"I managed it before."

"Look, let's just think this through." Leonardo suggests. "We'll need a plan. But I'm not prepared to discuss this with tension as high as it is and we're defiantly not doing _anything_ until you four have had some sleep." He says, referring to Raphael, Mona, Michelangelo, and Nicolosa. "This is gonna be big, so let's all just calm down, rest-up, and then we'll go through this thing."

And with that, Donatello, Michelangelo, Mona, and Nicolosa leave the kitchen.

"A wise decision, my son." Splinter tells Leonardo.

"Thank you, father." Leonardo replies, before Splinter heads off back to bed to catch-up on his missed sleep.

"Teacher's pet." Raphael comments, arms folded.

"Go to bed." Leonardo sighs as he can't be bothered to get into a name-calling match with his brother.

"Nessie, listen--" Mona calls as she follows Nicolosa to the living room area.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" She asks as she turns to face her.

"It's... your name..." Mona answers.

"Is it short for something?" Michelangelo asks.

"Venus." Mona nods before turning back to Nicolosa. "You've been off with me since I found you..."

"Come. You can use my bed." Nicolosa signals for Mona to follow her, and they walk up the stairs together.

"I'm... I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you when... when they found you..." Mona says with a sad tone.

"I don't even remember that..." Nicolosa admits as they enter her bedroom.

"What...?"

"I don't remember any of it... I don't remember anything from my past..." She explains, sitting on her sofabed. "I don't... I don't remember you..."

An expression of deep hurt forms on Mona's face as she joins her on the sofa.

"I... kind of recognise your face... but I don't... I don't know you..." Tears form in Nicolosa's eyes as she continues. "I'm sorry... I just... can't remember... and I've been dreading having to say that to someone I used to be close to... I've been dreading seeing that look that's in your eyes right now... I didn't wanna hurt anyone... I threw that chance of contact away because I didn't want anyone to hurt because of me..."

Mona leans forward quickly and hugs Nicolosa.

"I... might not even be the me you used to know..." Nicolosa says.

"You'll always be my baby sister." Mona confirms before releasing her. "No matter what."

Nicolosa finds herself smiling a little, and then a random question comes to mind as she notices Mona's long tail.

"Hey, what happened to my tail?" She asks with a curious tone.

"Your tail?"

"Mm."

"I don't know. It's been that way ever since I met you."

"Hmm?"

"You really don't remember a thing, do you...? That place we were taken to, with the other mutants, that's were we first met."

"But... you said we're sisters...?"

"As good as. We've always been together since that day, even when you were annoying the hell outta me." Mona laughs.

"I'm annoying?" She asks, pointing to herself.

"You're... I guess a better word to use would be..." Mona thinks for a moment. "Playful. And you are a bit of an idiot sometimes."

Nicolosa smiles.


	29. Chapter 29

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Twentynine: New Memories**

Noon approaches, and Mona is only just waking-up after getting hardly any sleep at all the previous night. For a moment, she almost forgets where she is; in Nicolosa's room, in the Turtle's home and lair. She stretches, and as she comes out of it, she notices something. Or rather, some_things_. She looks at the posters on the walls, the toys in the room, and the papers and objects gathered on the desk. Everything that surrounds her at this present moment, is an indication as to who Nicolosa is now.

Mona sits on the stall by the desk, and looks over the loose papers. Skimming over each one as she lifts it up, she finds mainly drawings, before finding a couple of note books hidden underneath. She picks them up, revealing Nicolosa's laptop. She then looks at each of the note books in her hands, and decides which one to check-out first. She places one back down on the desk, and opens the other at the first page. It's blank. But as she turns to the next page, she finds a colourful title page. It's Nicolosa's diary.

Whilst Mona would like to read it all, she's worried about getting caught with it. So she only skim-reads some of the pages. She notices a note about a digital camera Donatello had given her some time ago, and about all the pictures she's been taking and printing. According to the note in the diary; they're in a box on the floor, beside her sofabed. Mona looks behind, and down at the floor at each end of the sofabed. Sure enough, there's a box. She gets off the chair and kneels infront of the box, opening it up. It really is full of photos. She picks-up a hand-full and starts flicking through them. But it isn't long before she's caught as Donatello spots her through the partly open door.

"Awake, I see." He says as he enters the room, startling Mona. "Don't worry. Those are no secret. I'm sure she won't mind you seeing them too."

"I just wondered..." Mona trails-off as she picks the box up and sits on the sofabed.

"Yeah, I get it." Donatello takes a seat on the stall. "You wanted some insight into the kind of person she is now, right?"

Mona nods, before flicking through some more of the photos.

"She looks happy." She comments. "Really happy."

"Well, for the most part; she is." Donatello confirms.

"For the most part?"

"Yeah. She seems to over-analyse things sometimes." He explains. "But she's never down for too long."

"Hmph. Same as ever then." Mona smiles.

"Well, I wouldn't know about that. But I'd imagine that would be a real plus for you guys if she still has the same personality traits that she used to have."

"Yeah. It's good to know she's still herself." She says. "Where is she anyway?"

"They feel asleep a few hours ago."

"They?"

"Mm." Donatello nods. "She spent most of the night watching movies with Mike. I've been checking on them every-so-often as they have a habit of staying-up all night. But I guess this time they had a reason."

"What do you mean?"

"Nik, well actually, both of them have a few things on their minds, I guess. I did over-hear them talking a little about what you two had discussed before she left so you could sleep."

"You mean you eves-dropped."

"I try not to eves-drop. It usually leads to misunderstands." Donatello explains. "I just wanted to see if they were alright, and as I approached the door, I heard her mention the two of you aren't blood related. Which is no real surprise, to be honest."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, I had my suspicions from the start. But it was hard to back them up with any evidence without taking blood samples. Afterall, mutation can effect us all differently. It's not like there are any real rules or set guidelines."

"Mm. I see what you mean. Well, you're welcome to do your tests. But I can already tell you I'm a newt."

"Interesting. So, where were you when you came into contact with the mutagen?"

"Wow, that was quite a long time ago. I was in a lake." Mona then thinks for a moment. "So... how did she sound? Was she... troubled that I'd found her...?"

"Not exactly. I did go in and we all talked for a while. She's a little confused right now, but that's to be expected. And... she's a little afraid you might wanna take her away from here. From us."

Mona pauses for a moment.

"She can't stay here forever." She sighs.

"Actually... she can." Donatello smiles. "She's become a real addition to our family."

"What, you guys are like her brothers now?"

This should be an easy question to answer. But Donatello finds himself pausing before answering.

"I'd say so. Most of us anyway." He says, finally.

"Most of you?" She asks with a suspicious tone.

"Well, _I_ certainly see her a little sister."

"Yeah, but this was never about how _you_ saw her. Somewhere there's a complication. But if it had been with you then you would have said "most of _them_". But you didn't. You said "most of _us_", which means the problem is with one of the others. And you just tried to side-step the issue, which leads me to believe the problem is a rather serious one."

"Hmph. Clever. But I wouldn't call the "issue" a problem, let alone a serious one. It's just a little... complicated."

"How so?"

"I can't say."

"Can't or won't?"

"Err, a little of both." He answers, receiving an glare from Mona. "It's not my place to say. Besides, in truth, it's actually just an assumption, so we could be wrong."

"Whenever _you're_ wrong; something explodes." Raphael comments as he appears in the doorway.

"Gee, thanks Raph."

"Anytime." Raphael gives a thumbs-up. "So, are we ready?"

"For what?" Mona asks.

"For finally getting back to business." Raphael says.

"Not exactly." Donatello answers as he stands, then turning to face Mona again. "If you've got any questions or anything, I'll be downstairs."

"Thanks." She smiles, glancing at the photographs. "But I think I'll stay up here a little longer."

Donatello nods, before following Raphael away from the room, explaining to him that Michelangelo and Nicolosa had only fallen to sleep a few hours ago, and it was best to let them catch-up on as much sleep as possible… given the circumstances. He also suggests that Raphael be a bit more understanding of the current situation regarding Mona and Nicolosa.


	30. Chapter 30

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Thirty: Calm Before The Storm**

After sitting alone in Nicolosa's room, looking at all of her photos, and reading much of her diary, Mona begins to understand Nicolosa and her feelings alot more. She gets up from the bed and heads towards the bedroom door, slowly pushing it open and taking a look at what's happening on the main floor below. The first thing she notices is Nicolosa's voice...

"Please, please, pleeease?" She asks Donatello as she bounces around him.

"Just buy a Furby or something." Leonardo suggests from his seat on the sofa.

"I've got three of 'em." She replies before turning back to Donatello. "C'mon, Donnie... just a little one? A kitty, or a puppy! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease--"

"Shuddup!" Raphael yells as he grabs hold of her from behind and covers her mouth.

"I'll think about it." Donatello laughs.

"No. You won't." Raphael demands. "The answer is no. No pets. Not even robot ones."

"Dude…" Michelangelo noticed Raphael keeping ahold on Nicolosa as he returns to the main room after a talk with Splinter. "What'd I miss?"

Raphael rolls his eyes as Michelangelo bounds over.

"Have no fear, Mike is here!" He says, then taking a fighting stance.

"Moron." Raphael sighs, shaking his head.

"Hero." He corrects with a toothy grin.

As Mona makes her way down the stairs, she wears a smile on her face. She hears Nicolosa's muffled giggling, and she can see the happiness in her eyes. It's good to see.

"Afternoon." Leonardo greets her as he passes her on his way to kitchen.

"Er, hi." She says.

"I take it you didn't sleep too well either?" He asks, taking a seat at the table.

"You could say that." She replies, then taking a step towards Nicolosa.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Leonardo lightly cautions.

"Why not?" Mona asks.

And, right on cue, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Nicolosa start play-fighting in the sitting room area.

"That's why." He answers.

Mona watches are the bundle of bodies rolls across the floor. Raphael gives a forceful push, sending Michelangelo flying in one direction, before throwing Nicolosa onto the sofa and taking-up his defensive stance as he wait for them to attempt another attack on him.

Michelangelo gets back up and makes a run at him, whilst Nicolosa tosses a cushion at him, before climbing back over the sofa and running at him as well. Raphael just shakes his head as he waits until the last minute to back-flip pit of the way, causing the attacking pair to bump right into eachother.

"Idiots." He laughs as they lay in a heap on the floor.

It isn't long before they both get-up again, lunge for him, knock him to the floor, and continue their little game.

"She hasn't changed a bit." Mona laughs.

"Hmph." Leonardo smiles. "It must be nice to know she's still the same person deep down."

"Donatello said something similar." She says, sitting beside him at the kitchen table. "It is. But it's still… sad. It's sad knowing that she knows nothing of our relationship."

"Mm. I understand. But I'm sure you can rebuild that relationship." He says. "Just be patient. Although, saying that, she took to us pretty quickly, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's the same with you."

"Yeah. She's always been that." Mona smiles. "It does worry me sometimes though…"

"What do you mean?"

"She trusts too easily. I mean, she can just meet a stranger, and before she even realises it herself; she's formed a bond and given her trust. Sometimes I worry if she's on the same page as the rest of us, you know?" Mona chuckles. "I guess she just sees the best in everyone…"

"You're pretty protective of her, aren't you?"

"I guess so… which is why I need to talk to you about something." She says, leaning in a little closer.

"Go on."

"We can't go back to that place."

Leonardo awaits an explanation.

"I know she wants to help the others… I do too. But it's not that simple. There's too many of them."

"I understand you concerns. And I, for one, am not taking this mission lightly. But we've been out-numbered by The Foot many times, and we're still here."

"It's not just The Foot. It's the mutants too. There's nothing to guarantee that they'll believe what I have to say. And, besides that... there's already a team of Foot Ninja and mutants looking for us. I've seen 'em and, believe me, they are out to _kill_. They don't wanna bring us back or wipe our memories… they _will_ kill us if they get the chance. Probably you too if they find you with us. I don't wanna give them that chance." She says, looking over at Nicolosa, who's currently sitting on Michelangelo's shell as if he's a horse, charging towards Raphael.

"Everytime we fight, I fear for the safety of my brothers. So I do understand." Leonardo replies. "But we can't just ignore this. We have to help those that we can. Besides, whatever's going on with The Foot, you can bet _we'll_ be their target sooner or later."


	31. Chapter 31

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Thirtyone: Maps**

Everyone is gathered around the large table infront of the monitor, which currently displays a schematic map of the sewer. The table itself is littered with general maps of the sewer system, and the streets above, most of them unrolled. Mona and Nicolosa study one together, trying to find the location of the underground laboratory they were once kept in.

Nicolosa finds herself having trouble trying to remember now. She'd always been sure she could get back there… but not anymore. She tries to imagine the path she took in her head, but she just can't see it. She rubs her eyes and shakes her head a little, before trying again, determined to remember.

After a short while, the determined expression on her face transforms into one of worry and disbelief.

"Nik?" Michelangelo asks as he notices.

She looks at him with her sad eyes, worried that she's losing even more of her memories.

"I… I can't remember…" She finally says. "What's happening…?"

"Nothing." Donatello says quickly before she has a chance to panic. "When was the last time you had to think about this?"

"Er, um... the last time I went there." She answers.

"Exactly. Which was _before_ they shot you full of drugs." He explains, looking her in the eyes. "You lost this memory at the same time as you lost the others ones. So it's nothing to start getting worried about."

"Are you sure?" Michelangelo asks, worried himself.

"As sure as I can be. But I will keep an eye on it." Donatello says, looking back at Nicolosa again. "So if you find yourself forgetting anything else; let me know. But I think you'll be fine."

"Thanks, Donnie." Nicolosa smiles a little.

"So, now that little panic is over, we get on with this, right?" Raphael suggests.

"You are so insensitive." Mona frowns.

"No, I'm impatient." He replies. "Can you just find this place so we can get on with things?"

"I'm _looking_!" Mona snaps.

"Look _harder_!" Raphael snaps back.

"I'm looking _hard_!" Mona yells.

"Look _faster_ then!" Raphael yells back.

"I'm looking as fast as I can!" Mona yells again.

Raphael prepares to respond, but Leonardo steps inbetween them.

"Will you two just stop it already!?" He frowns. "We've got more important things to worry about."

After giving eachother one last glare, Mona gets back to studying the map.

"It's no good." She says, shaking her head. "I've not come at it from the sewer before."

"Try this one." Leonardo suggests, passing her a street map. "If you can find it from above, then we can work out where it is below."

"Hey, maybe I _can_ find it." Nicolosa suggests suddenly.

"But you just said--" Michelangelo scratches his head.

"I know, I know. But... I remembered the way back to my old place, right?" She explains. "I knew it once I got going. Maybe I could do the same with this place?"

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. _You're_ not coming." Mona states, without taking her eyes off the map.

"Wha'?" Nicolosa looks over to Mona.

"You heard me." Mona replies.

"Yeah, but--"

"This is a suicide mission and you ain't invited."

"I don't think things are quite that bad." Leonard says.

"_You've_ never been there." Mona replies.

"_I_ have!!" Nicolosa says, waving her arm around to get noticed.

"You got lucky." Mona glares. "You could've been _killed_! Infact, from what I understand, had it not been for these guys, you would have been!"

"Oh, c'mon." Nicolosa groans.

"Actually, she's got a point." Leonardo says, looking at Nicolosa. "It's obvious from the amount they shot you with that they were out to put you to sleep _permanently_."

Nicolosa pauses for a moment, reflecting on the fact that she'd probably be dead by now if it wasn't for the guys.

"I still wanna help." She says, a determined look in her eyes.

"I dunno..." Michelangelo says with a worried tone, having also reflected on what Leonardo just said.

"Mike!" Nicolosa squeaks. "Don't you go all doubtful on me too!"

"I'm not! I just don't want you to get hurt." He confesses, suddenly feeling embarrassed after having blurted that out infront of everyone.

Nicolosa smiles for a moment, touched by Michelangelo's concern.

"Hmm..." Mona takes in the scene, making silent assumptions.

"Can we just get on with this!? There's no point arguing over this anyway. If she wants to come then nothing anyone says is gonna stop her. Am I right?" Raphael says, looking over to Nicolosa.

"Mm." Nicolosa gives a single nod, full of determination.

But she almost melts when she feels Michelangelo's hand upon her shoulder as he stands behind her. It's only natural for them to be worried about eachother. The Turtles always had a sense of worry for eachother whenever they went into battle, but they'd learnt to hide it as best they could over the years. Afterall, they're all in this together, and if they stayed home everytime someone worried about them, then they'd never fight at all, and they wouldn't be the team they are today.

"Here." Mona says, pointing to a certain place on the map, not too far at all from the river, having finally found the location.

Donatello compares the location on the street map, with that of the sewer map of the same area. He then takes the map over to the display screen and marks on the location on the screen.

"It's alot closer than I'd hoped." Leonardo says. "This can't be good."

"Yeah, the last thing we need is The Foot for neighbours." Raphael adds.

"It's not quite that bad." Donatello insists. "But you're right... it is closer than I'd imagined."

"Well, the next question is; how do we get in?" Leonardo thinks.

"I think we should concentrate more on how to get back _out_." Mona worries.

There's a few moments of silence as everyone ponders over Mona's words. Getting back out again could prove difficult if they aren't prepared, and none of them, not even Mona, know their way around the building properly.

Raphael's thoughts, however, differ from everybody else's. Though he's managed to keep it relatively quiet, he can't help but feel that this whole mission may be a trap. In true Raphael style, he doesn't trust Mona right now anymore than he did Nicolosa when she first arrived. And with Nicolosa's loss of memory, Mona was free to make-up any story she liked to make herself sound like an old friend.

"Right." Leonardo begins, catching everyone's attention. "I have a plan..."


	32. Chapter 32

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Thirtytwo: Mission Impossible**

Having taken the van incase of the need for a quick escape, and because it was a faster way to get there, the new mission has begun. Keeping in contact via headsets, and aided by a motion tracker per team, as well as small tracking devices worn by each of them, the team has split in order to cover different levels at the same time, both in order to find different ways in and out of the building, but also to have eyes at as many different angels as possible, in order to help eachother. Leonardo and Donatello are making their way across the roof tops, Raphael and Mona are ahead of them in the shadows of the streets, and Michelangelo and Nicolosa are searching the sewer below.

And down in those sewers...

"Can you see me?" Nicolosa asks playfully as she runs out infront of Michelangelo.

"Yeah!" Michelangelo laughs as he looks at the motion tracker he holds in his hand, showing her as a yellow dot. "This is awesome!"

Nicolosa runs back to Michelangelo and takes the tracker from him, allowing Michelangelo to run off infront this time.

"Aw, cool!" Nicolosa giggles as she sees him as an orange dot on the tracker. "It's just like the in Aliens!"

"Will you two stop messin' around!?" Leonardo scolds them over the headset. "Mona, is this it?" He asks as they approach a tall building which appears to have no lights on at all inside.

"That's it." She confirms as herself and Raphael are crouched behind a dumpster, not too far away from the building themselves.

"Alright. But remember, our only task right now is to locate and mark as many access points as possible. _No one_ goes in until we've re-grouped and chosen our entrance together." Leonardo orders. "You got that!?"

Everyone acknowledges.

"Okay. Let's go." Leonardo nods.

Himself and Donatello, who holds their motion tracker, begin to make their way a little closer to the building in order to circle it from the surrounding roof tops.

Raphael and Mona, who currently holds their motion tracker, spot an obvious "front door" way of access straight away, and leave a marker on the wall of a building as close to it as possible, before making their own way around the building on street level, but without getting too close to be seen by anyone. The marker, another of Donatello's workings, sends a signal to all the motion trackers, allowing everyone to find this point.

Michelangelo, who is back in possession of their motion tracker, and Nicolosa, make their way down the sewer. There are currently no changes in direction, so they only way they can go; is forwards. Boring.

"This sucks." Nicolosa pouts.

"You can say that again." Michelangelo agrees.

"This sucks!" Nicolosa repeats.

"For crap sake." Raphael groans down the headset. "Just get on with it."

"How are we supposed to find anything down here?" Michelangelo asks. "This tunnel is just getting darker and darker."

"Use the flashlight, shell for brains." Raphael replies.

"That's not the point." Michelangelo clips the motion tracker to his belt inplace of the flashlight, and Nicolosa also uses her flashlight too. "How are we gonna find a way into that building from here? We're not close enough."

"That's the point." Mona comments.

"Come again?" Michelangelo and Nicolosa ask in unison.

"You're safer this way." Mona replies.

"What are you saying?" Leonardo asks.

"There _isn't_ a way in from the sewer." Mona admits.

"You sent them on a wild goose chase!?" Raphael growls.

"I didn't want her to get hurt!" Mona argues. "That's why I suggested she go down there!"

"They could be helping us!" Leonardo points out.

"Wait a second." Raphael says, almost ready to explode. "You were making this mission sound like a big deal."

"It is." Mona nods.

"Like we could be ambushed at any time." He continues.

"We could." She nods.

"Like we'd need all the help we could get." He continues again.

"We do." She nods.

Raphael glares at Mona, waiting for her to say something. Anything. Something that could convince him that sending two of their team members on an impossible mission was, infact, a good idea. But Mona says nothing, she just looks right back at him as if to say "what?", in a clueless kind of way.

"Do you not get what I'm saying to you!?" He says through gritted teeth.

"I do." She replies, and there's a pause. "But that's not the point--"

"Arrrr! Arrrr-rrr-rrrrr!!" Raphael growls, trying not to yell obsanities at Mona. "WOMEN!"

"Heeey!" Nicolosa pouts.

"You don't count." Raphael replies, meaning it in a complimentative way.

"Alright. Enough." Leonardo finally speaks-up again. "Mike, Nik, I've got a new mission for you. Find and mark all the manhole covers around the building. We may need them depending on which exit we end-up using."

"So, this is important, right?" Michelangelo asks.

"Very." Leonardo answers.

Michelangelo and Nicolosa give eachother a high-five.

"Listen, it's no good if they're too far away from the building for us to use in a hurry. You'll have to lift the covers to check if they're close enough." Leonardo cautions.

"Hey, don't worry." Michelangelo smiles.

"Yeah!" Nicolosa smiles too. "We're ninja!"

"Well, you're only a little ninja." Michelangelo jokes, comparing their heights.

"Just becareful, you two." Leonardo laughs a little. "Alright, let's get on with this."

"Michelangelo." Mona's voice comes across the headsets as everyone starts to move on again.

"Yeah?" Michelangelo pauses.

"Look after her... okay?" She asks.

"I intend to." He answers, looking over at Nicolosa a little ways ahead of him now, looking right back at him.

"I can take care of myself, you know." Nicolosa smiles as Michelangelo catches-up with her again.

"I know." He replies. "But now you have me as your ace bodyguard! I'll protect you from those deadly ninja Foot dudes!"

"Ooh, my hero." Nicolosa jokes as they continue on their way.

"You won't be saying it like that when I rescue you." He says.

"Rescue me?"

"Yep."

"Pfft. Like I'm gonna get caught."

"Oh, you will. You're not as ninja as me." Michelangelo teases.

Listening to Michelangelo and Nicolosa over the headset, Mona gets more of an idea towards what Donatello had mentioned to her before about the little complication.

"Guys, there's not much up here at all in the way of access into the building." Donatello's voice comes through the headsets. "We've been marking the fire escapes incase we need them."

After a while, the teams finally seem to be finishing their rounds...

"Raph, how are you getting on?" Leonardo asks.

"It looks like we're almost done here." Raphael answers.

"Mike, how about you?" Leonardo checks.

"I think these might be the last two." Michelangelo answers as he attaches the tracker to the manhole cover. "You still with me, Nik?" He asks, double-checking he can see her on the motion tracker.

"Yep, yep." Nicolosa replies as she does the same to one a little further down the tunnel. "I'll be with you in a second."

"Okay. Everyone meet back at the van." Leonardo tells them.

Nicolosa, flashlight still in hand, climbs down from the ladder that lead upto the manhole cover she just marked. As she takes a few steps in Michelangelo's direction, she hears something and pauses. She shines her flashlight behind and infront of her, but doesn't see anything. She waits a moment, but doesn't hear anything else, so she continues on her way.

But she hears it again. Clearer this time as it echoes a little louder, but then stops. Someone coming towards her maybe, but it sounded like it came from the ceiling, rather than the floor. And it seemed to come from behind. But the echoes could've just made it sound that way. It must just be Michelangelo heading towards her... right?

"Mike?" She calls, shining the flashlight out infront of her as she looks for him.

"Yeah?" He answers over the headset.

"Where are you?"

"Waiting for you."

There's a pause, and Michelangelo starts to worry. He asks, looks down the tunnel in the direction she's meant to be coming from, and checks the motion tracker for her. He doesn't see her coming towards him. Infact, he doesn't see her moving at all. She's just stood there.

"What's wrong?" He asks, starting to walk in her direction.

"N-nothing." Nicolosa answers, convinced it's her over-active imagination playing tricks on her.

"What's going on down there?" Mona asks via the headset.

"Nothing. I'm fine." Nicolosa replies, continuing on her way towards Michelangelo again.

"I'm coming to get you." Michelangelo says as he isn't convinced, he continues on his way towards her too.

Suddenly, he hears a scuffle, and Nicolosa's muffles, before hearing a hard tap through his headset.

"Nik!?" He calls.

No answer.

"Nikki!?" He calls louder, as he increases his pace, now running as fast as he can down the tunnel.

"What's going on?" Mona's voice comes through the headset, sounding worried as she, and everyone else, heard the noises from Nicolosa's headset also.

The others begin to make their way towards Michelangelo, following his signal on their motion trackers.

"Mike, what's happening?" Leonardo asks through the headset too.

"I don't know! I don't know!" Michelangelo replies in a panic.

Michelangelo slows his pace as he see Nicolosa's headset laying on the ground. He comes to a stop, and kneels down to pick it up, his facial expression becoming one of distraught as he comes to realise what he had been fearing since he'd heard her muffles...

"She's gone..."


	33. Chapter 33

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Thirtythree: The Unknown**

It doesn't take the others long to reach Michelangelo, as they were close by in the first place, and they spot him just a little further down the sewer tunnel. But Michelangelo isn't going to hang around. He grows a look of anger and determination on his face, before running off in the only direction Nicolosa could have been taken in.

"Mike!!!" Raphael calls as he sees his brother head off away from them.

"We gotta stop him!" Leonardo calls to the others.

"Mikey, wait!" Donatello calls as they all rush to catch him.

Unfortunately for Michelangelo, it isn't long before he's faced with a junction and he comes to a skidding halt as he tries to gamble which direction to take. As a result, he's quickly jumped by Raphael, who grabs his arms to keep him still for a moment.

"Raph!" He protests, struggling to get away. "Get off me!"

Michelangelo thrashes about until he gets free, but by this time, the others are standing around him, keeping him from dashing off anywhere.

"What are you doing!? We gotta get after her!" Michelangelo insists.

"Just calm down." Leonardo tells his little brother. "We need a plan."

"We don't have time for this!" Raphael says.

"He's right." Mona agrees. "We have to hurry!"

"So let's plan on-the-go." Donatello suggests as he leads the way, showing everyone Nicolosa's marking on his motion tracker. "We can follow her with this."

"Alright. Let's go." Leonardo nods.

Up on street level, Nicolosa is being taken towards the building. A large lizard-like creature has hold of her. One arm wrapped around her middle, holding her up so her feet can't touch the ground, whilst he holds his other hand over her mouth, preventing her from calling-out to anyone. Nicolosa kicks her feet out and tries to shuffle herself loose, making the leftover markers in her pouch rattle.

"Hey, what's this?" The beast asks as he lets go of her middle to grab the pouch from her belt. "Breadcrumbs, huh? How stupid do you think I am!?" He growls as he throws the pouch to floor and proceeds to stamp on it, trying to break the devices inside.

Nicolosa manages to break free as the beast's concentration shifts from holding her tightly, to grinding his foot down on the pouch. But she doesn't get very far as he lunges forward almost immediately and grabs one of her wrists. He pulls her closer to him again, and she takes a swing for him with her free fist. But he stops her, grabbing her fist before it can connect with his face. As he grins a cocky grin, she swings her legs up and plants her feet on his front, pushing against him, trying to free herself from his grip.

"Let me go!" She says, before biting one of his hands as hard as she can, causing him to flinch and let go.

But he only lets go of the one hand. He still holds her wrist in his other.

"That was a mistake." He growls through gritted teeth, before using his free fist to strike her torso, winding her, and then proceeding to land a blow to her head, knocking her out.

Meanwhile, down in the sewer, Donatello pauses as he notices Nicolosa's signal moving away from a newly activated marker signal.

"What is it, Don?" Leonardo asks.

"I think she's leaving us a trail to follow." Donatello answers, but then has doubts when he doesn't see anymore markers being left. "We should keep going."

As they continue along their way, Raphael feels the need to point out something he'd noticed...

"Does this feel too easy to anyone else?" He asks.

"Hm, I know what you mean." Leonardo agrees.

"We've been all around that building and didn't see a single guard." Raphael notes.

"Well, that building does look like any other building, so having a bunch of Foot Ninja at the doors just might draw some unwanted attention, don't you think!?" Donatello points out.

"Agreed." Leonardo nods.

"Well, if you ask me--" Raphael begins.

"Wait." Donatello says, coming to a halt. "Her signal's gone."

"What?" Mona asks, taking a look. "Is she out of range?"

"No, I don't think it's that." Donatello thinks for a moment.

"Wha... what's happened to her?" Michelangelo asks, almost going out of his mind with worry now.

"Don't worry, Mike. I'm sure it's just some kind of interference from inside the building... or possibly the structure itself." Donatello wonders.

"This whole thing stinks!" Raphael groans.

"Don't start, Raph." Leonardo warns.

"C'mon, Leo. Don't tell me the idea hasn't crossed your mind!" Raphael continues.

"What idea?" Mona asks.

"Raph!" Leonardo warns again.

"This all seems highly suspect. There wasn't a single guard around, but Nik was snatched from the one place she wasn't even _meant_ to be! The place _you_ sent her!" He says, glaring at Mona.

"What? What are you saying!?" Mona frowns.

"I'm saying that it was a pretty lucky coincidence for them that Nik just happened to be down in the sewer at a time when their only guard, or whatever, just happened to be there too. And _you_ were the one who made sure she was down here, even when there was no need for it. And you very cleverly failed to discuss it with any of us. You sent her into a trap! And now she's the bait for our own trap!" Raphael growls.

"You think I'm working for them!? You think I'd put her in danger on _purpose_!?" Mona replies, shocked and angry. "Fine! Forget this! Forget you! If you think I'm leading you into some sort of trap then why don't you just _leave_!?" She says, squaring-up to Raphael. "I'm going in there to get my sister back. You guys can do whatever you want. I don't give a damn!"

"Oh, nice try." Raphael replies. "But you _know_ we can't just leave, because Mike--"

"Hey... where _is_ Mike?" Donatello asks, looking around and noticing that Michelangelo is actually missing now.

Inside the building itself, Nicolosa has been thrown in a cell. The cell has a glass door, and is pull of padding, and has a small bed connected to it's back wall. Nicolosa lays unconscious on her front, on the floor of the cell. The whole room is full of these cells. Each cell, and the room itself is extremely clean. All the other cells are empty. Apart from Nicolosa, the entire room is empty.

In another room, an equally clean room, like a science lab, with many such tools laying around the table tops. The lizard beast waits stands beside a human figure. The human studies a monitor. A monitor displaying a live feed from inside the other room. And guarding the now closed door which leads to the other room, is a heavily armed rhino-like creature.

"Are they here?" The human asks, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"She was calling to someone before I grabbed her, but I didn't actually see them." The lizard answers.

"This could be problematic." The human sighs.

From a door located on the opposite side of the room, a tall crocodile-like creature enters.

"Dead, is she?" The human frowns at the crocodile beast as he points to the monitor.

"She _should_ be." The creature responds, displeased himself.

"How is this even possible? She's the most sensitive subject to the drug mix I gave you." The human continues. "Hence why I allowed it to be used as a weapon against her last time."

"Then it's your own fault." The creature lazily argues. "You didn't make it strong enough."

"What!?" The human yells. "My fault!?"

As the human continues to yell at the mutant crocodile, another mutant, another lizard-like creature enters the room, seemingly un-noticed. He's smaller and sleeker than the bigger lizard beast, and he wears a backwards black baseball cap, and purple knee-length shorts. As he walks towards the others, he catches a glance of the monitor, and the cell being occupied, and takes a closer look.

"Nessie!?" He gasps in as his eyes grow wide.

"What do you want, Mondo?" The larger reptile demands, stepping infront of him.

"I want you to get outta my face." The smaller reptile answers back, then turning to the human. "You wanted me, doc?"

"Yes." The human says as he approaches Mondo, drawing his attentions to the monitor once again. "You've obviously noticed your friend--"

"Why is she just laying there...?" Mondo asks, cutting the human short of finishing his sentence. "Why is she even in that room? What happened to her? You said--"

"Just hold your questions for a moment and I'll try to explain." The human begins. "As you know, she was taken from us and brainwashed by the Turtle Gang. However, it seems they have no further use for her and she was found by the river. We don't know yet how long she's been out there or exactly what has happened to her. That's where _you_ come in." He turns to a concerned looking Mondo.

"What can I do?" He asks.

"We're keeping her in there as we don't know how she'll react when she wakes up. It's also a quite place where she can get her bearings and feel safe. But it would be good for to see a friendly face when she comes to. And, even if she's not sure who she can trust anymore, I'm sure she will feel that she can trust. You were one of her best friends before she was taken from us, afterall." He explains. "We need to know where the Turtles are, and what they're planning. We need to know what she knows."

"Gee, doc... I do wanna talk to her, but I don't wanna interrogate her." Mondo hesitates.

"Who said anything about interrogation?" The human says, slyly. "I'm sure you want to know where the _villains_ are that did this to her. Who knows what horrors she's been through. What torture they bestowed upon her if she wasn't co-operating. What countless, unimaginable things they could have done to her before leaving her for dead at the riv--"

"Enough!" Mondo demands. "Let me in."

"Of course." The human smiles. "You should be aware that she may not recognise you at first. She may be confused about alot of things, so you'll have to be patient with her and talk her round. Who knows what nonsense they've filled her head with."

"Alright." He nods.

"The rest of you; we have work to do." He says as he urges the other mutants to leave with him and they exit the room.

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" The large lizard asks.

"It's perfect." The human answers as they walk down a corridor. "Mondo should be able to gain her trust and bring her back to our side. And in so doing, he'll be able to get information on the Turtles' whereabouts so we can prepare an ambush. And then it's just a case of turning them to our side, or disposing of them."

"You're forgetting that she'll tell him the truth about how she really got here." The lizard points out.

"No, no. I convinced Mondo a long time ago that she was brainwashed by our enemy. Mondo's never felt like he's fit-in here, and she was a friend to him from the beginning. So you can imagine his determination to help 'save' her from the Turtles. And now, he'll want revenge for what 'they've' done to her. He won't want to believe the Turtles are anything but evil." The human grins. "However, I am prepared for the worst case scenario, and they can _both_ be dealt with if need be."


	34. Chapter 34

**TMNT: New Beginnings**

**Chapter Thirtyfour: Truths And Lies**

"I'm tellin' you; this is a trap." Raphael comments as he looks out from under the half-open manhole cover, over at the building. "It's clear. There's no one around. It's a straight and easy run from here to the door, or here to the fire escape. This is a complete joke!"

"You're over-looking the possibility of hidden defences." Donatello replies.

"In any case, this isn't good." Leonardo worries. "We shouldn't be split-up like this. Not when we can't communicate with eachother."

"I'm sorry." Mona says quietly. "Raphael's right. This whole thing _is_ my fault. They wouldn't have been down here if it wasn't for me... I just wanted her to be safe... she's always been into this 'hero' stuff... living too carefree... too dangerous for my liking... I always try to protect her, but somehow, she always finds a way around me... like when she first started sneaking out to that club--"

"That's it!" Raphael interrupts, having an idea. "Mona, this place is full of mutants, right?"

"Y-yes, but--"

"Any turtles?" He asks.

"Of course. But I don't se--"

"Take off your bandanas." He tells his brothers, and then looks at Mona again. "And take off your scarf. And that wig."

"What!? No way!" She refuses.

"Just do it! This is the only way we're gonna be able to walk around in there." Raphael explains. "In passing we'll look just like any other mutant turtle..." He pauses. "Now _there's_ a sentence I never thought I'd say..."

"What if we get caught in a crowd?" Leonardo asks. "We can recognise eachother by face alone, but Mona probably won't be able to tell the difference between us and the others."

"Hmm, that isn't too hard. You could just tie your bandanas to your belts. They wouldn't be too noticeable to others, but as long as I know where to look, then I should be okay." Mona says. "And I'll probably be able to see your weapons anyway."

"And what about our weapons?" Donatello asks as he removes his bandana. "You might be able to hide your's, but our's are too big and we can't chance going in without them."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that. Alot of the others carry weapons around with them anyway." Mona says, then looking at Raphael, wondering what gave him the idea in the first place. "How?"

"Easy. Mike and Nik did the same thing when they snuck off to that club." He answers.

Mona realizes that it must've been her that reminded him, and she smiles, happy that she managed to help at last.

Already inside, Michelangelo is trying to find his way through the air ducts. But it isn't easy when some places are just too small for him to fit through, and so he has very little choice in which directions he can go in.

Remembering he's still in possession of one of the motion trackers, he takes another look at it, hoping it'll work again now he's inside the building. But he gets nothing, no reading at all. He switches it off and on again, and gives it a shake just to be sure. But still nothing...

In the lower part of the building, Nicolosa still lays unconscious, with Mondo sitting, waiting, outside her cell. Mondo's mind wanders, back to less complicated and easier times. When he and his mutant friends, Nicolosa and Mona included, had little more to worry about than their training. But he's soon brought back from his memories as Nicolosa begins to come-to.

Her eyes open slowly, and she groans as she pushes herself up into a sitting position with one arm, and holds her head with the other. Her groan ends in coughing, and she holds her ribs suddenly as the pain begins to remind her of what recently happened.

"Are you alright?" Mondo asks, catching her attention.

She looks at him with confused eyes. She knows his face from somewhere. Obviously someone from her forgotten past. It's only then that she realises where she actually is, and she jumps up quickly, placing her hands against the clear wall that separates her from Mondo in a panic. This is defiantly somewhere she's been before, and she doesn't like it.

"Hey, hey, calm down." Mondo gets up and stands infront of her. "You're safe now."

"Safe?" She asks.

"That's right." He nods. "You're home."

"This isn't my home..." She replies with a sad tone, worried she'll never see her home or her friends again.

"What are you talking about?" Mondo asks. "This has always been your home. Don't you remember?" Mondo asks remembering what the human had mentioned about her possible memory loss. "Do you remember anything?"

"It's true I don't remember alot from my past... but I know enough to know I've gotta get outta here." Nicolosa replies, looking at around for a way out of the cell.

Meanwhile, wandering through the corridors, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Mona are trying to look as casual as possible. But, knowing that Michelangelo is missing, Nicolosa is being held captive, and they themselves are probably being scouted for... looking calm isn't particularly easy.

"The motion tracker still isn't working." Donatello says quietly as he takes a quick glance at it, still attached to his belt.

"So how are we supposed to find them?" Raphael groans.

"The lower levels." Mona says. "That's where Nik will have been taken, and that's where you'll find all the information you'll need about what they're planning."

"Good. I'll check their computers and download as much information as I can." Donatello explains. "But the problem then will be finding Michelangelo."

"That idiot'll probably just end-up getting himself caught." Raphael suggests.

"Raph!" Leonardo scolds.

"What? With any luck they'll take him to the same place Nik is - which'll save us the trouble of looking for him." Raphael points out. "Hell, he's probably been caught already."

Though Raphael is wrong, and Michelangelo hasn't been captured, not yet anyway... he is lost, and getting frustrated with crawling around tunnels that seem to lead nowhere - especially when he's in a situation where every second counts considering that last time these guys had gotten near Nicolosa, she was very almost killed!

"This is stupid." He groans to himself, and sets-off to find the next grid so he can bust out of the tunnel.

Back in her cell, Nicolosa has been explaining things to Mondo, who can't believe what he's hearing, and it's not easy when everything you've ever known turns-out to be a lie...

"Are you sure about all this?" Mondo asks, not knowing what to believe anymore.

"Mondo..." Nicolosa sighs sympathetically. "It doesn't matter how many times you ask me that... the answer'll never change."

"But... then what have I been doing all this time? What side have I been on all these years..." He questions, then becoming angry as he thinks about it more. "Bastards!" He growls, punching the wall before heading towards the door that leads back into the lab.

"Mondo, wait!" Nicolosa calls, worried he'll get himself killed if he goes up against them on his own.

But it's no use. Mondo leaves the room, slamming the door behind him, and leaving Nicolosa behind, still trapped in the cell.

However, all is not as simple as it seems. Mondo plans to help Nicolosa escape, but that won't be easy as he doesn't know the code to open the cell door. As he re-enters the lab, he glances over to the monitor which feeds from the camera in the other room. Without a word, he switches off the monitor, unintentionally grabbing the attention of the rhino-like creature, the only mutant not to have left with the others earlier as his job was always to guard the lab.

"Hey, what d'ya think you're doin'!?" He growls, approaching Mondo.

"Making sure those Turtles don't find her." He answers. "They're in the building looking for her, and we need to get going and look for them too!"

Though Nicolosa hadn't actually told Mondo that the others would be looking for her, it was the only thing he could think of that would get the rhino out of the room so that he could try and think of some way of getting her out of the cell without being noticed.

"I got orders to stay here." The rhino replies.

"We're under attack, you idiot!" Mondo yells in an attempt to make the situation sound more serious. "Priority goes to protecting the building and those inside! We need to go! NOW!"

"Alright!" The rhino grunts, following Mondo out of the lab.

"Head to street level. I'll join you shortly. I have to alert the others first." Mondo says.

The rhino leaves, making Mondo's plan, to get him away from the lab, a success. But he could be rumbled at any moment - time to get back to work and break Nicolosa out of the cell. But just as Mondo turns around to head back to the lab, he gets a sudden heavy bash to the top of his head, knocking him out. Almost instantly, there's the sound of metal clanking on the ground. And, looking out of the gap where the grid had been in the air duct above... is Michelangelo.

"Oops."


End file.
